


In for a penny, in for a pound

by BuriedDeep



Category: One Direction (Band), Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Movie Fusion, Break Up, Established Relationship, Inspired by a Movie, M/M, Male Slash, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-08
Updated: 2013-04-29
Packaged: 2017-11-28 14:11:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 58,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/675282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuriedDeep/pseuds/BuriedDeep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Movie Star AU:</p>
<p>Liam and Zayn are an openly gay, famous couple. The pair have been dubbed with the infamous title of Britain's Sweethearts. Unbeknownst to the world around them they have secretly decided to call it quits and are living a part. When the director who had ran off with the only copy of their latest movie calls the cast in for a private screening, the two reunite.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based loosely on the movie America's sweet hearts. Liam and Zayn are movie stars. Zayn and Liam are still singer but occasionally switch gears to movies.

I revised the entire fic. Most of what you will read is flashbacks that give you insight on how Liam and Zayn came to be together and their transitions from singing to movies. 

 

2017  
Liam Payne smiles tightly as he waves to the paparazzi outside of the Four Seasons hotel. He'd just spent the night having a small gathering and was on his way to breakfast with his friend Harry Styles, leaving Niall watching cartoons and the party animal Henri in the bathtub trying to sleep off all the alcohol.

Usually he would've stopped in order for them to ask questions, giving them what they wanted to hear while maintaining his charming smile, but from the questions that are now being shouted at him, he decides it’s better to ignore them.

"Hey Liam, looking good today. New Movie in the making?"

"Where’s Zayn?"

"Harry, Liam! Hey! Hey! Over here."

"Working on a new project? We heard there was another proposal? Was there?"   
But God is that easier said than done.

"Liam, Liam!, Lee!, Lee!!, Liam, Liam!" one just continues calling hysterically, irritating Liam to a point where he wanted to throw his Blackberry at the man. Well, maybe not his phone, maybe he could get Harry to throw his own instead.

"Where's Zayn, Liam?" a tall, slim male reporter with a pointed nose and hideous mossy green slacks inquires, forcing a small tape recorder at Liam. Harry steps forward, pushing the recorder away while smiling politely, that charming little dimple making an appearance.

"Zayn's fine" Liam cuts in before Harry can come to his rescue. His friend looks at him but doesn't bother putting in his two cents. They continue walking; the place they're heading is still 6 more blocks away. Liam wishes he had worn his sunglasses, that way the paparazzi wouldn't be able to see the tight lines of his weary eyes, then hire some body language expert to analyze a photo of him, running a story based on their intuition.

Who's he kidding? Glasses or not, they were going to run a farfetched story about him and Zayn anyway. After all, they were “Britain's sweethearts”.

Zayn Malik was meditating. Or, at least he was trying to...  
The sound of a Chinese man's almost strained English filled the living room, where Zayn sat in the Burmese position on the plush teal carpet. Onigami Sensei commanded that the viewer take 3 soothing breaths, releasing them calmingly through the mouth. Zayn obeyed, smiling goofily as if he had accomplished the world's greatest act of bravery.

"...repeat after me, 'I am at peace with myself, I am at peace with the world'"

Confidently, Zayn did as he was told, trying his best to concentrate on the meaning behind the words, seeking a self-realization that would ultimately bring about a transcending epiphany, thus refreshing his soul. At least, that was what it had said on the cover of the DVD.  
His gray, woolen sweat pants were beginning to chafe and he shifted just a bit. This however, broke whatever little connection he had. Scoffing at how ridiculous he must look, he stood, going to the kitchen to fetch himself a beer. On his way out to the sun deck he hits the blinking red button on his answering machine.

"You have 30 messages" the robotic voice proclaims. Zayn simply continues walking, lifting the newly opened beer to his mouth. He's on the sun deck by the time the beep resounds through the room.

"Zayn where the hell are youYou can't keep ignoring us It’s been 2 weeks man You can't seriously still be hiding at the beach house Answer your damn cell Don't make me come there you rusty..." beep! Zayn hears Louis's loud, agitated voice clearly and chuckles dryly when the only thought that comes to mind is that Louis really needs to know when to slow down on his word flow. His message was like one long sentence.

"Zayn, I need to speak with you" This time it was Chad his agent.

"Pick up the fucking phone don’t make me come up there" Louis, again.

"Malik!", yet another one of Louis’ hourly check-ups.

His thoughts fog out the sound of the other messages, his mind occupied with the melody of the tide breaking against the shoreline. Liam would've loved it here. They've always spoken about Liam's obsession with the ocean and Zayn had promised him many times that if they ever settled down in one particular place, it would be one with an excellent view, calming surroundings and at least with a pool for when they were feeling a bit more private about their water activities. He's purchased the perfect house in his opinion, but they weren't exactly together or even speaking to each other nowadays. His foot kicks the banister tiredly. So much for being Britain’s gay power couple.

Flashback*  
Four years ago Harry, Louis and Niall sued the company for breaches in contractual rights and obligation. The three members were unsatisfied and completely stressed out with what they were being called to endure, their endlessly busy scheduling and lack of proper vacation time. In the beginning being in One Direction seemed like a dream, it was a dream, a dream that they all shared and enjoyed. But as they grew with the band, the company and the fans, the more pressure the company seemed to force on them. They were being scheduled for fan signings in bum fuck everywhere in the world. They had to be going back and forth from country to country practically plane hopping after every event. It was completely ridiculous. Their families were worried and they themselves were being pushed to the point where they had had enough.   
When Harry, Niall and Louis sued, Zayn and Liam were both a bit shocked but had known it was inevitable. They too had felt the pressure but they had always thought that they would stick together until there was a mutual agreement to split. Apparently the other three could not wait that long.   
Of course the public reaction when word got out was one of overly dramatic hysterics. There were hundreds of blogs being created almost every day, each with some new opinion or speculation as to why the boys were filing a lawsuit against the company.   
For Zayn, things got even more stressful for him during the lawsuit, he felt obligated to take on everyone’s emotional baggage and with the depressing atmosphere that had set in around the him and Liam after being separated from the others.   
Liam and Zayn had sought each other out more during their alone time, just needing some privacy away from the deep rooted aspects and controversy of that now seemed to want to overtake their lives. The lawsuit was taking place in London and at the time he and Liam had chosen to get an apartment together since all other activities had been put on hold.  
It was actually the most time he and Liam had ever spent together outside of the band business. However, Zayn has admitted to himself that if he had to be stuck with someone during a time like this Liam wouldn’t have been his first choice but he was pleased profusely with the result.   
They might have had many moments where they would be seen playfully leaping on each other or leaning in for kisses just for the cameras-sake and well placed fan service in the past, but the true bonds of their relationship seemed to strengthen and tug at them during their moments alone until they each give in inch by inch to coy yet satisfactory indulgence.   
And hell if that wasn't an open invitation for ass fucking he didn't know what was. When the lawsuit was over, the company reinforced the combination Liam and Zayn as a duo called ‘Cadence’. They promised to allow the boys to be free to their own devices and that their scheduling would not be as hectic. Niall and Harry did not hold any grudges over Liam and Zayn staying with the company. However, Louis bitched about them on twitter for a while and officially made every attempt to avoid them at all costs.   
Zayn was uncomfortable at times during the beginning because he’s only known himself as being part of five during his music career and to suddenly be alone with just one other individual without having the choice of trolling around with Harry, Louis or Niall was something that needed getting used to. Soon enough he looked forward to Liam’s touches that always seemed to bring him out of his stoic state during prep time for their comeback as ‘Cadence’  
Liam and Zayn made an effort to speak to Louis privately and clear the air but the other lad refused to give them the time of day. Harry and Niall reassured them that Louis would come around once he was done throwing his fit, however Liam was crushed that one of his best friends would just turn his back on him. Liam had not discouraged Louis from going through with the lawsuit and had been there for all of them as it happened. He could understand Louis distrust of the company but was it so hard for them to talk like the friends he thought they were.   
Liam and Zayn snapped out of their mental funk a few months before their comeback song was going to be released. Both he and Liam acted as each other’s anchor, keeping the other steady throughout the difficulties that arose, pushing their way forward no matter what, they had only to depend on each other and they would not disappoint themselves or their fans.

The immediate reception of Cadence was a breath of fresh air for them. Liam stood close to him as they looked out at the crowd of fans that had come to see them perform on the Ellen show. They had succeeded, smiling gratefully at the other but their minds lost in a sea of memories about their friends.   
Before the lawsuit Zayn would have considered his relationship with Liam as friendly. They were members of the same group and fairly shared a couple of intimate touches, hugs, random cheek kissing most of which was management’s way of exciting fans. Sometimes Zayn found that he really hated the unnecessary PDA and he had suspected that it was clear that the only possible reason for his discomfort was the fact that it all seemed to forced to be genuine. 

However, during the few months before their comeback the touches they shared had become much more limited, more standoff-ish but not unfriendly. Zayn had missed the previous ones, the ones that he hadn't seen coming or appeared almost staged just for the cheering of the fans. At first he thought he had missed teasing the fans to the point where they scream and sweat bullets. But then he realized he had liked the way Liam’s body had felt against him, tickling Liam senseless as they were photographed as the five goofy brit kids. Zayn has always loved to hair Liam’s laugh. It was a breath of fresh air and plus everyone knew that Liam's smiles were the best.   
It was only when Zayn had dreams about using the tip of his tongue to explore the depth of those smiling lips that he actually got the motivation he needed to begin step one of 'How to get closer to Liam without him fully knowing that you intend to sex his hot man-ass'.  
He assumed it had something to do with the emotional and physical stress of their comeback and somehow it gave him the boost into stepping out of his safety circle for a while as they now began to once again revive that natural, desirable atmosphere that had become a tad too reserved over the last couple of months following the lawsuit.   
The comfort of each other’s company was still there, but on a level that had set certain boundaries for them. Liam was incredibly tactile from the get-go, proving to Zayn that he could not read too much into the touches even as he tried to satisfy the pins and needles in his fingers by dropping a pat on Liam's thigh, shoulder or back.   
The hugs were the best, though. They were quite a fall from Liam's earlier acrobatic leaps and butt smacking but it didn't matter to Zayn as long as he got to feel Liam's warmth against him, the slight brush of his hair on Zayn's cheek, the rumble in Liam's chest whenever he laughed and who could forget the way brown eyes seemed to bubble with energy whenever Liam spoke.   
Zayn liked to think that they bubbled just for him. But Liam was just a friendly person generally, so yeah, it was fucking hard for Zayn not to implode from frustration because he found himself too caught up in the playful mood Liam sets naturally and the hurt he leaves whenever they have to go their separate ways due to post-performing exhaustion.  
Perrie had been an awesome person throughout the lawsuit and their comeback, Zayn enjoyed her company but there had been something missing, maybe it was the fact that she was shorter or lacked...Liam. They split shortly after Cadence’s first single but remained good friends. So yeah staying with Perrie had been easier said than done, meanwhile Liam and Danielle continued to be the only budding relationship after their comeback brilliantly.

The exact moment Zayn finally accepted that what he felt for Liam was on a level beyond man-crush was during a Dallas fansigning event. They had taken a break from performing as Cadence when Harry Styles had come on stage much to the surprise and excitement of the fans. Harry’s appearance had been organized to the tee so it was no surprise to Zayn and Liam. They had been the ones to insist to management that it would help clear the rumors that the other three were now enemies. Which was quite silly but not unexpected from the gossip ring of tabloids. Zayn and Harry were both just happy that Harry was still such a close friend. During a t-shirt auction, Liam had been getting his shirt signed by Harry when the lad had just bent Liam over, on fucking stage and signed the back of his T-shirt, which would be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Over the loud almost shrieking screams of the fans Zayn had moved away momentarily for his own sake because, GODDAMMIT HARRY!  
Shortly after that, Liam came to Zayn, opting for him to sign his shirt. Zayn wrote it on his chest, almost possessively doing so. They had looked in each other’s eyes briefly when WHAM! Sparks in 3D.

Cause that’s how Zayn knew it was love. This kind of love came with loud sound effects and whacky cartoon music, too. But he hadn't seen hearts in the air, because that would've just been a sign that he had overdosed on red bull and coffee. For the rest of the event Zayn positioned himself between Harry and Liam.   
Later on that day, Liam had been the one to approach him as Zayn, coffee in hand, ventured to the elevator. Their rooms were on the same floor, therefore making it simpler for Liam to just tag along with him, launching into a well needed one sided discussion. And if Zayn was honest with himself he'd admit to waiting for Liam on several occasions just so that they could ride in the elevators together, walk together even, almost aggressively needing to spend as much time in the other man's company as he could which was just silly because they were now just the two. The other man had done most of the talking. Zayn found that he could only listen and stare vulgarly.

That evening, the elevator ride was mostly spent talking about their performance, the fans, Harry, funny tales the crew shared with them, and the occasional referral to what they planned to do in their free time . Arriving at Liam's room door first, they chatted awhile longer, Liam grinning coyly with embarrassment whenever Zayn threw in a jibe about Harry bending him over on stage.

"I think I saw one of the girls to my left foam at the mouth, her eyes were rolling into her head too" Zayn had teased his face the clear expression of seriousness.  
It’s only when Liam breaks into chuckles that he lets the facade drop, admiring openly the physical release that Liam's face endures. A smile stretches itself across his mouth, merrily enjoying the presence of the laughing man. Now he's been a witness to Liam's laugh for, well, since the first day they had met and it surprises him that he still gets shivers down his spine whenever Liam does so.   
In that moment Zayn not only realizes his true feelings but he also discovers that he’s understanding what persons blog about when they talk about the chemistry between him and Liam that makes everything about their comeback possible. When he really analyzes the depth of that chemistry, that bond they have that came so naturally, it’s almost breathtaking. It had felt wonderful to reestablish their 'bromance' without the awkwardness and forced PDA but he thinks he probably spoke to soon because Liam is clearing his throat and Zayn realizes that he's still staring.

Hm, awkward...

Zayn figures he had been channeling his inner fangirl.  
*End flashback

To put an end to the long drawn out memorabilia of confusion which Zayn had to suffer through before he comes to the understanding that he actually was pining for Liam’s personal affection lets skip ahead. On an afternoon in May, the two are scheduled to leave the next day to travel to LA, after attending a three day spree of Q and A in Greece.

Then

Liam doesn't seem to like the Greece taffy he's eating, choosing instead to squish it between his fingers. Zayn is patiently awaiting his cooling coffee and eyeing a ¾ eaten cinnamon bun while contemplating whether or not to take nap. They had already gone on the sightseeing tour the previous day, leaving them to rot in boredom at their hotel room on their last day in Greece. The early interview that morning had been an end to their professional responsibilities, they had eaten lunch at a popular restaurant and now it was about 18 minutes past two. After they got back from lunch Liam had instigated a game of Mario Kart. Zayn lost 9 out of 10 games. Only managing to win one, because Liam had gotten stuck, then slipped on a banana peel, fell into the lake and had to be fished out. However, this did not stop Zayn from pretending to hold up cocky trash talking while secretly easing his thumb off of the control in order to slow down his own kart, giving Liam some time to catch up to him.

After gloating in his wins modestly Liam had ordered them coffee from room service while Zayn raided the fridge ever so often. They were too lazy to take a stroll outside and nothing excitable was showing on TV.

This is how they end up at their taffy playing, coffee waiting scene and with no sign of retribution from boredom in sight, Zayn claps his hand and recommends some music.

Zayn's Ipod is plugged into a nearby stereo system and the song is randomly selected from his list of music. The intro for 'It must've been love' by Roxette has Zayn narrowing his eyes challengingly at Liam, daring him to say something. Liam had just nodded his head appreciatively.

Three songs in and Liam is doing ‘I’m a slave for you’ karaoke. Which Zayn immediately after the first minute of the song changes because Liam should be banned from making such breathy sounds outside the bedroom.   
Preferably Zayn’s bedroom only please. 

Zayn doesn't dance but as usual Liam does enough dance moves for the both of them. When the ‘Eye of the tiger’ intro starts up, Liam courteously passes his butter finger-microphone to Zayn, bowing respectably when Zayn accepts as if the other man has just honored him with his prestigious presence.

Choosing to lip sync Zayn is a little stiff at the beginning and what Liam is doing cannot be considered dancing anymore in either shape or form. Contented in watching Liam wave his arms and kick off his legs for a while, Zayn just stands there. Liam has found a small ornament in which he can now use as his mic, he turns to Zayn, barking out a loud 'It’s the Eye of a tiger!' in unison with the beat. Finally, he coaxes Zayn back into their fun and the two attempt some sort of rain dance, well, Zayn seems to be doing a rain dance but with all the pelvic thrusting Liam is doing he's pretty sure Liam's performing his ritualistic mating dance.

Since his epiphany in which he accepts the fact that he does harbor feelings for his co-singer, Zayn had tried to keep his staring to a minimum and above all, keep his emotions in check. He still stares, though. Oh God, does he stare. How could he not?   
And he was doing it even now, watching Liam in a daze while he smiled goofily. Nowadays, Liam doesn't even react to it and Zayn figures that Liam must either suspect that Zayn has a thing for him or that Zayn's brain shuts down momentarily leaving his physical appearance immobile while the little aliens in his head converse about their plans for world domination. Zayn hopes it’s the latter.

They both mouth the words to 'Don't take the girl' by Tim Mcgraw. Liam can't seem to make up his mind whether he wants to play the role of Johnny or the girl and spoils most of their role playing by pretending to be the distressed female during the 2nd verse of the song. Zayn doesn't protest, helplessly grinning as he watches Liam's over dramatic performance. “Don’t be taking my girl Zayn” was one of Liam’s most laughable avowals of the day.

Bryan Adams' 'Everything I do’ begins and by that time they're both sweating profusely. Wiping at his wet forehead, Zayn is taken out of his drifting thoughts into relaxation by the appearance of Liam's sweaty upturned palm under his nose.

"May I have this dance" he throws in a slow bow for emphasis, then gazes up, eyes shining with a mellow glint.

Zayn remembers wondering if someone might be shooting off live rounds in his stomach at that moment. Being the more reserved one of the two Zayn considers himself to be the type to look before he leaps; trying to pinpoint everything on a broad scale in order to envision just what the outcome might be before he acts.

Liam rises from his slight bend, his eyes dragging over Zayn's face much too slowly for it to be just a friendly gaze. But Zayn feels that he might be reading too much into it. He's been staring at Liam for quite some months now. At first his staring had been without comprehension of his true intentions, then the staring turned into one with confusion and dread over the gay thoughts after understanding his feelings, followed by staring in turmoil whenever he catches himself doing so and now staring with lovelorn weariness whenever he realizes it could never be.

But now, now he wants to stare with determination because playing it safe to study the angles of the turnout was clearly not as interesting as pursuing Liam no matter the outcome. Knowing was half the battle but he already knew Liam, expanding that knowledge into new territory would be a war he was willing to fight alone, even if it was with himself. It began with him taking Liam's hand and from there he lets his inhibitions and insecurities fade into the back of his head.

Not wanting to make things too awkward for Liam, Zayn initiates a sort of fox trot combined with a twisted an elementary school version of the tango dance, giving Liam the upper hand as to how much personal space he wished to invade. For Zayn, however, he would've taken it to as far as sitting on Liam's thigh, grinding their groins together as they moved.

Liam held his hands, their arms spread out to the side and their heads turn from left to right as they trot back and forth across the large room. Zayn glides, his feet sliding effortlessly across the rug as he goes along with the dance and it’s good that the simple choreography does not require much of his attention because his amusement and honest-to-God fascination with the side of Liam's face occupies most of his thoughts. Liam doesn't flow as easily when they dance, he's moving on the tip of his toes, his comedic and clumsy actions resulting in Zayn's continued distraction.

They burst into giggles following the beginning of the second chorus and it’s only because Zayn realizes that Liam keeps stepping on his feet. Strangely enough it’s right after they stop that Zayn comes to term with just how badly his feet are throbbing and plops down onto the couch to check them.

"Woah, they're so red" Liam had commented, "You should've stopped me"

Still rubbing at his feet Zayn glances up at Liam with a quirked eyebrow, Liam chooses to shrug helplessly. The taller man bends to inspect the flushed foot in Zayn's hand, screwing up his face in mock disgust as he takes a dramatic sniff.

"Smells like sulfur" he pretends to choke out, looking to the side with his nose scrunched up. Zayn recoils in pseudo flabbergast at the words, flicking Liam lightly on the forehead.

"Your ass smells like sulfur" he retorts, releasing the foot so that he could tend to the other. He glances up at Liam shortly before returning his gaze to his foot.

Liam straightens, "And how did you ever come across such information?"

Leaning the back of his head against the cushy material of the sofa relieves some of the tension in his body and thinking quickly Zayn answers with a sarcastic, "I'm a spy for FBI, the Fiendish Butt Inspectors in a special unit called Ass and Buns patrol. I was sent to the X-factor audition to test your ass-agility and now with my secret revealed I must hold you in contempt"

Liam's uncontrollable chuckle is worth all of the nonsense he just said but it’s the feel of strong hands surrounding the heel of his raised foot that seals the deal for Zayn. Liam is kneeling in front of him and Zayn's imagining all sorts of pornographic imagery that makes him swallow thickly. From the thrilling shots of firework running up his spine Zayn assumes that Liam might as well have put his hand directly on Zayn's cock.

"It’s the least I can do" is all Liam says when he looks up to find Zayn staring at him with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk. "Besides, I hold myself in contempt" the taller man adds, poking out his tongue at Zayn. It’s a sinful sight to behold, one that Zayn might have to write about to the pope because he think he's found the motherfucking anti-Christ and he's going to foot massage the world into chaos. The tease within that one gesture can have a man dry humping a pen in search of an orgasm.

"S'my fault mostly. I should've known better than to declare a dance-a-thon with you" it takes all Zayn's strength not to bite his lips and groan, liking the way Liam's long fingers slid between his toes. Who'd ever thought he had a foot fetish?   
Fuck, who’d ever thought he was gay? Only Liam would cause Zayn to learn more about himself.  
Liam held his foot tighter when he felt Zayn begin to squirm and the knowing spark in hazel eyes as they peered into Zayn's face had the green eyed man grimacing at what was to come.

"Your ticklish" Liam's shit-eating grin made him both giddy and fearful.

"I'm not" Zayn says truthfully. Well, he wasn't 10 minutes ago...

Liam grips the foot tighter, his grin becoming a soft smile. Zayn pulls his foot back slightly, hoping to impede Liam and possibly get to the bathroom with a plausible excuse.

At Zayn's movements Liam chuckles deep in the back of his throat and gently places a bite on his big toe. Zayn jerks his foot back so fast he might've hit himself in the face with his knee.

"What the heck was that?" Zayn controls the height of his voice, sounding a little more casual than he felt. Inside he was reeling, he almost broke out in cold sweat effectively as he tried to balance out his surprise and arousal. That bite had sent tingles to all the right places. His heart was racing and he was breathing heavily, eyes wide as they met Liam's unsure gaze. The other man was nibbling on his bottom lip, his eyes seeming to scan Zayn's face for something. Liam laughs suddenly, scratching the front of his hair with one hand while the other found purchase on his knee. Zayn caught the faint blush on his cheeks and immediately his thoughts imploded with theories and fantasies.

Liam doesn't answer, choosing instead to rise from his kneeling position then looking around the room. Zayn’s thoughts are so loud that he's afraid Liam might hear them. Psy’s ‘Gangnam style’ is playing but neither of them seems too eager to entertain the idea of going back to their previous outlet for fun. Zayn decides he has to do something when Liam doesn’t even poke fun at him for having PSY’S song of all things on his Ipod.

Liam clasps his right hand around the curved muscle of his left upper bicep, looking slightly tongue tied. Zayn's not much for confrontation and although he's about to explode from all the questions running through his mind he's not going to make this situation any harder than it should be. He plays it off smoothly, his erection willed away by his overwhelming anxieties and he asks whether or not Liam would like to go for gelato. Liam readily agrees.  
**

After arriving in LA simply for the sake of browsing and being idle in each other's company, they relax for a few days before heading back to London where they say their farewells for the time being as they go off to their individual lifestyles, only to meet up 3 days later for drinks .   
Things start to feel a tad weird between them for a while but it’s only a matter of time before one of them bursts from the tension. That person was Liam. Zayn had thought that the reason for their tense behavior was because Liam had finally caught onto his feelings and was trying to avoid the awkwardness of confronting Zayn.

Fortunately, Liam had a certain boldness that came with his verbal diarrhea which made for the best conversations starters. They're back into the studio to clarify and go over their schedules the following week, Zayn gathers up the courage to invite Liam back to his home for a game and some beverages. Liam accepts and they're riding in the spacious elevator at the studio which seems totally cramped and stifled at the moment. Zayn had been fiddling with his thumbs while Liam runs a hand through his hair which he had allowed to grow back out once Cadence was formed, sighing impatiently as he does so. Zayn thinks it’s about time they discussed matters fully and is trying to figure how best to cover his balls if Liam decides to knee him for being a perv, when the taller man clears his throat gently.

"I, I...Um, Is, do-you, uh like me?" Liam had asked, his head tilting to the left as he observed Zayn, causing the fluorescent light in the elevator to reflect sharply on his nervously clenched jawbone. Realizing the vagueness of his words all too soon, his head snaps up and he tries again, rushing to say, "I mean."

"Lee" Zayn is finally able to say, the feel of his short yet sharp finger nails digging into his palm is enough to make him speak "You don't know how happy I am to hear you ask that"

To this day, Zayn is thankful for Liam's outright approach to them having a relationship because if he had been the one to initiate the conversation, it probably would have started out like this, "Liam, I have been after your hot ass for a while now..." and he was sure that at that particular moment he had been channeling his inner-perv.

At Zayn’s home, they'd talked a bit, laughed, locked their manager, Chad, out (Zayn's idea because the man just kept calling and asking where they were) and finally a casually peck on the lips just to test the energy a little before it blossomed into a slow, appetizing kiss only to be interrupted by the shrill of Liam's iphone ringtone.

Zayn later went on to try to squeeze in a little wooing with Liam, you know, to make their rise toward deeper intimacy seem all the more special almost...  
"Zayn, we've practically been dating for some time now. You know me better than anybody, so yeah; I don't think wooing is in order"  
Afterward, they had blossomed into more fervent touches, full-on groping, crotch grabbing (which had been a customary thing in One direction but now that they weren’t being filmed while doing it, well, it was downright sexy), which Liam seemed very fond of doing, he always was the ‘hands-on’ type. When you're dating someone like Liam, who phones home two nights after he and Zayn 'consummate' their relationship, telling his parents about his new 'boyfriend', you don't find it difficult to believe when he says he's ready to let the world know about your relationship. Too bad Zayn didn't get that memo at the beginning.

Zayn didn't even have the chance to come out to his parents on his own because one hour after Liam had told his parents about their relationship; Zayn had received a rather disturbing phone call from his own mother. Apparently news travels fast when your boyfriend's parents and your own parents have each other on speed dial. He'd gotten quite an earful about his delinquency in withholding such important news.

"Are you ashamed of your relationship with Liam?" she had had the nerve to ask, her tone stern, making the question all the more rhetorical to him. Zayn had the phone attached to ear for a good 2 hours. He had taken to pacing the house as he spoke to both parents (who had him on speaker) about responsibilities, protection and commitment. He had expected them to be heavily disappointed in him but his parents weren't judgmental hypocrites when it came to love.

Sure they were a bit saddened but not at all angry, to them happiness and love was all that mattered unlike Liam’s mother who had cried on the phone for the better half of an hour and Zayn had found himself rubbing his boyfriend’s back soothingly as the younger man speaks in hushed, broken words, admitting the essence of their love for each other and did not apologize once for choosing Zayn and Liam would never admit it openly. With his own parents, Zayn had thought they were way too Brady Brunch about it for his tastes but he wasn't complaining, especially when his mom said,

"You can't help who you fall in love with Zayn. Besides, I think deep down I always knew you two had a thing for each other" it was when she launched into a rather detailed description of the casual hints that could've given away Liam and Zayn's un-platonic attraction, that made Zayn think, 'Yeah. Maybe we did have a thing for each other back then, too' No wonder Liam hadn't thought Zayn needed to woo him further, they'd had a plausible 4 good years of sexual tension and maybe they could've been flirting as an undertone in their playful banter and just not known it.

"And make sure you two use protection at all times. I've seen things on TV where gay guys are said to be promiscuous and engage in them there foursomes. Don't even think about having one of those orgy, Zayn! Be fair to yourself and Liam. I'm warning you. I swear, ever since you went into being a singer you've...gotten, wild!"

Wild? He had pondered. 'What the hell does she mean by wild?' He had chosen to ignore her choice of words, but found himself dwelling on the pitch in her voice when she had said 'Orgy'.

After that his dad had stepped into the conversation and sounded just as uncomfortable as Zayn felt. As the two now took turns throwing in random sentences of whatever sprung to mind, Zayn had decided to occupy his feet by walking around the kitchen for a while, then changing directions so that he could smack Liam on the ass as he passes by, the other man was doing playing a Sports WII tournament in the living room.

"Whoa!" Liam had laughed, his face screwed up in annoyance when Zayn had smacked him the first time, obviously messing up his concentration.

"Your entire fault" Zayn had replied, the cell phone tucked into his belly. After blowing raspberries at Liam, he turns away, putting the phone back to his ear. The conversation with his parents carried on from there, they had just hit the 2 hour mark when they asked to speak to Liam. Zayn had been exhausted. Luckily enough the battery had died and he used that as an excuse to get them off the line. He remembers throwing the cell on the bed, then rushing back downstairs. Liam was in the middle of a tennis match when he tackled the other man onto the ground.

"Orgies Liam. She was talking about orgies!" he hisses playfully, managing to grab the WII control from Liam and placing it safely on the couch.

"Ew. They want to have an orgy with us? Now I see where you get your kinkiness from" and that had been Liam's last smartass comment for the day.  
After the whole coming out to the parents, Liam figured it was best to tell Niall, Louis and Harry. Of course Harry and Niall had been right about Louis coming around eventually. The other lad had taken a few weeks to gather this wits before he came crawling to Liam to apologize for acting like such a wanker. Zayn had given one attempt at a minor protest but Liam had cut him off with a matter-of-fact statement.

"Louis’d have a diva fit if he doesn't hear it from me. Or worse, if he only hears about it after we get caught doing something obscene in public and get rudely outed" The last part of that statement had wiped all thoughts of Harry clear and Zayn zeroed in on the peculiar use of the words 'rudely outed'.

"Liam. You aren't planning to 'rudely out us' are you?" eyes narrowed in savage suspicion, Zayn had closed the distance between himself and his lover.

"Why're you looking at me like that?"

"Well you do have a knack for being openly touchy feely, especially in public" Bracing his hands on his hips, feet shoulder length a part he added, "So, when were you planning on informing me about your plan to 'out' us?"

"First off. You stand that way again I'll take a picture of it and post of the net" Zayn moves to stand in a better position. "Second. I always touch you in public" he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. Zayn rolled his eyes.

"Third, I'm not planning on outing us...well, not without your permission" he bats his eyelashes prettily, "And it won't be 'outing' if we both agree to...uh, reveal that part of our relationship to…uh, to the general public. Besides, you like me all touchy feely. S'reason you even wants me" Liam huffs, folding his arms across his chest, pursing his lips, his head turned away from Zayn in a melodramatic fashion.

"No. I like you because you have girly hair and overly long legs and when I squint just a right I see Taylor Swift, my one true love"

Liam’s head had swiveled around his mouth agape, "You insult me. But seriously, even though I would like for the world to know you're taken by moi," Liam stressed his macho man possessive nature by jabbing himself in the chest with his thumb, "I wouldn't do anything like that without your full consent. Because you're the pretty one and when I squint just a little I see Taylor Lathner"

"Terrible taste in men, Lee" he's smiling though, closing the few inches between himself and Liam in order to hug the other man proudly.

"Tell me about it. I'm stuck with you"

Zayn gives him a momentary look, then snuggles the side of his face against Liam’s hard chest, saying, "Did I mention I'm into bondage"

Liam had pulled back, his eyes glittery with ideas, a hellish Grinch smile spreads across his face. He cups Zayn's chin smoothly,

"There might be some use for you after all"

ZAYNLIAM ZAYNLIAM ZAYNLIAM ZAYNLIAM ZAYNLIAM ZAYNLIAM ZAYNLIAM ZAYNLIAM ZAYNLIAM  
They had just finished filming a variety of tv show appearances and things were looking up, especially with the US tour DVD being right over the horizon. Zayn loved that Liam was his, even if it was in secret. He loved that he got to be jealous whenever Danielle reared her ugly head and that territorial look Liam got in his eyes whenever he squeezed himself between Perrie and Zayn. Because it made for some hot, hot, sex.   
Sex that they had fumbled through the first time, Liam stroking Zayn’s cock with a vice-like grip that had Zayn scrunching up his face in a mixture of agony and pleasure, fearing that the next rough fondle would have his foreskin peeling off him like a snake shedding its skin. Despite the enjoyment he felt due to the fact that Liam was touching his dick, Zayn had had to put a stop to the amateur hand job, laughing embarrassedly as he tells Liam,

“Never knew you had Bachelors in Circumcision?’  
Obviously they eventually got good at it, excellent even. Zayn found and made a mental list of all of Liam’s sensitive areas using them to his advantage whenever he wanted Liam to be a horny mess, ready and willing.

But coming out to your parents and friends was one thing, the whole world was on a scale of its own. He tried to make Liam see this, see that the world didn't matter at this point. They were making it big on their own as they were. So what if they were a secret, they were out to those who mattered, most of the management knew but couldn’t say shit without Liam and Zayn walking out so they insisted on them being carefully instead. Heck even the fans suspected something and were more than okay with it.   
They didn't need the whole world to know that they were a couple, besides it would've only complicated what little peace they had. But Zayn soon came to learn that you can't keep a good U-know Liam in the closet. Even if you attempted to distract him by bounding him with fuzzy handcuffs to the bed, licking at his whip cream covered cock sinfully. Liam was not budging on the subject. However, he had accepted the distractions readily enough.

"Don't you want me all to yourself?" Zayn had questioned sweetly as a last resort. Liam flashed puppy dog eyes on him and Zayn's resolve was hit by the bittersweet bullet of attractive persuasion.

"Yeah. But once everyone knows you're mine then they'd know to keep their hands to themselves anyway" he followed this statement with feathery soft kisses to Zayn's jaw line, almost purposefully avoiding his lips. Zayn had grunted, knowing he was about to be taken on yet another jumping the shark adventure. But as he captured Liam's teasing lips in a rough, sex-driven kiss he figured it couldn't be that bad.  
And it wasn't!

They chose to just go straight to a respectable tabloid rather than show up at some premiere or party holding hands or kissing openly in public, a suggestion made by one of the more friendlier members of management. Zayn assumed it would be better to just rip the band aid off and get it over with. Sure they'd get a few minutes of cover story time but soon it would all fade, leaving them to frolic happily in their meadow of love. Well that hadn't been the case; he assumed he had only thought that way because he had been watching way too much TiVo’d Dragon's Tales that day. The paparazzi followed them everywhere when they came in from their latest promotion after the details went public. There was always some picture of the two of them in a magazine with hilarious caption at the bottom. Liam hated the attention more than Zayn did, which the other man found to be very interesting.

"You were the one who wanted to come out" Zayn had reminded him with a scold.

"Well yeah. I just thought they'd get over it by now. Pictures of us walking through the airport together surely does not make for front page headlines. Who’s going to the army this week? What? Is Justin Bieber doing something news worthy elsewhere?" Liam had muttered, his tone edging on irritation.   
But it was not only ironic that Liam was the one who was having a problem with their ‘coming out’ but it was pretty fucking hilarious that seeing as how Niall and Josh, who had been looking forward to Zayn and Liam’s coming out as a way to break their own relationship to the public. But they seemed to shy away from the idea seeing as how the attention seemed to sky rocket even more. Being 'Big' and ‘Over the top’ wasn't a necessity for Zayn and Liam. They both enjoyed singing but weren't exactly obsessed with becoming an A list celebrity with a large entourage or whatever. They planned on lavishing themselves in the simple luxuries they wanted and each other’s company.

A month after coming out they were offered a dual role in a new British horror film. The film took on an aspect of American haunted homes and the men who visit them to test the paranormal activity. Zayn was to be cast in the role of the host while Liam played his brother and TV sidekick of sorts. At first they had thought it had been someone’s idea as a joke. It was their first actual film and after reading the script they thought it was rather well put together. And it was such a pleasure to be asked to do it together.  
“I have to play your brother?” Liam had teased, scrunching up his nose with a cute pout that was tied between being turned off and being amused.  
“You’re adopted” Zayn replied with an outrageous eyebrow wiggle, pointing to their part in the script that mentioned the adoption.  
Liam had hit him with the script.

The rest of the cast was actually a lot more sophisticated that Zayn had expected. However, he knew that Liam’s role had called for him having a girlfriend and Zayn anxiously anticipated what actress would be chosen to play the role. Zayn had thought it was rather dreadful of him to be happy that Hilary Michaels, an up and coming American female actress, wasn't going to be a part of the movie, she was a rather obscene flirt looking for any chance possible to rise to the top of her career, but then the role had gone to Jasmine Kimberly, a flirty much older actress, with an obscenely deep cleavage and a knack for calling Zayn her little ‘ChooChoo’ and Zayn didn't know whether to be pleased or not.

On one hand the director had gotten an A list actress for the role but on the other hand her acting was quite overly dramatic and fake. Zayn was an amateur to acting himself but he had thought that for a seasoned actress, Jasmine was quite unconvincing in her role. She performed up to standard but had no real chemistry with Liam as far as Zayn could tell. Sure they were nice to each other off set (Liam is nice to everybody) but Zayn couldn't say he missed working with her once she was killed off. She was super cool but he thought she played her character with too much Butch Lesbian BDSM controller girlfriend and not enough passion.

Zayn had to cringe sometimes while watching her circle Liam, taunting him with judgmental words which was to sort of push Liam’s character closer to the point of destruction, she had looked convincing enough but Zayn had been biting his nails, waiting for her to emerge in black leather and strap a semi-naked Liam to a table, while summoning a whip from thin air.

Her rough exterior and stern approach made her one bad ass chick demon and Zayn thought that maybe his dislike of how she played the role on set came about due to the fact that although she was Liam’s character’s love interest in the movie, she was always hanging off of Zayn’s arm like an ornament between takes making him and Liam uncomfortable.

During his and Liam's first viewing of the completed movie he had to give Jasmine props for her switching up on the routine.   
"I told you" Liam had told him smugly after the premiere, the credits rolling up on screen while everyone else cheered in favor of the turn-out. Instead of sighing or pouting Zayn took his correction in stride, giving Liam a soft brush of the lips across the nose.

Although the fans were pretty psyched about the movie there were still many circumstances in which Liam and Zayn had felt the negative pressure from some members of the public and even a few from other companies.

Comments like, ‘You guys are so talented and this just may have ruined your future’ and ‘Listen kid. In the world of fame and fortune if you want to ‘star’ in something big you gotta be big. Not a big faggot. That doesn’t look good on no resume, besides you couldn’t have kept it a secret, huh? At least for another, I dunno, 19 years or so?’ were just the minority of what they had heard.   
Liam had a thing for optimism at the best of times and Zayn had hoped like fuck it would rub off on him. His parents were a little ruffled around the edges about the allegations and vile statements being made and Zayn knew that whatever pressure he was feeling it was sure to be ten times worst on his family. But never, not ever had he considered abandoning Liam. Words like ‘ruined careers’ and ‘wasted talent’ eventually fell on deaf ears for them.

‘Supernatural Sightings’ the movie went off without a hitch. It quickly became a surprisingly enough success, fans of Cadence really putting an all-out effort to make it number one. Liam and Zayn had had hot triumphant sex the night someone posted some of the reviews, it felt good knowing that everyone’s hard work had paid off beneficially. It felt really good. Then the partying came, Niall and Louis were hula dancing at one of them, just for the purpose of being even more of a comic. 

They attended a miniature fan choice award show in France, where the fans basically voted for their favorites in each category presented. Liam won for ‘Best fight scene in a movie’ for his scene in Supernatural sightings. Mostly American and a few Kpop celebrities won most of the awards, but the best was actually getting to watch the fans perform dance covers of their songs. Instead of hiring or asking the celebrities to provide the entertainment the fans organized everything so that they would be doing most of the work, treating their favorite celebs to an entertaining evening.  
Zayn's fondest memory of the award show was the 'Kiss Cam' incident. He had swallowed his tongue in that brief moment when he chanced a glance upwards toward the screen after hearing the crowd applaud gleefully and seeing himself and Liam within a squared frame. Apparently whoever appeared on the screen had to kiss the person in the frame alongside them.

Fortunately Liam had retrieved his tongue from the back of his throat, luring it seductively into Liam's mouth where they battled sloppily. Liam wasn't exactly going for the romantic kiss award and Zayn knew exactly when to start playing along with the role of horny gay lovers when Liam attempted to straddle him, long legs flying upwards and grazing at his sides. The heavy sounds of claps and wolf whistles went ignored as Zayn was drawn into yet another exciting yet dreadful 'I'm going to hate this when its replaying on every celebrity coverage network tomorrow' feeling, his logic didn't stand a chance against when challenged by the fleshy touch of Liam's lips grinding like an oil-slicked stripped against his. Curse the man and his talents. 

The Movie brought with it a lot of pressure for them to do rather personal interviews, as fans and the media alike were now out for answers about the new couple. The questions were mostly from their supporters and fans but the really in-depth ones were from the media. The network and the managers scheduled the interview and both guys were surprised at how much emphasis was now being placed on their arrival. Even before the movie, after their coming out, they were being barricaded by fans on a higher level than they had been before. Recently, they could've gone out in public by themselves or with each other for coffee without bodyguards. But nowadays, it seemed like the press and fans and the haters were everywhere.

"What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to the two of you on set while filming?" the interviewer, Madalin Choi had asked, his plastered celebrity smile strung tightly across his face.

"Liam" Zayn deadpans flatly. The brown haired man sitting next to him on the small, blue silky couch looks at his boyfriend with a raised eyebrow. Zayn looks back, smiling teasingly.

The interviewer looks at Liam, waiting for him to reply.

Zayn speaks up again and says,

"No I mean Liam is the most embarrassing thing on set, period. They're way too many incidents to recall but let’s just say they all involve, Liam" Madalin's laugh is disregarded, Zayn grins knowingly when Liam throws his hands up and rolls his eyes heavenward.

"What was it like playing brothers in a film and being lovers in real life?"

Zayn laps his right leg over his left, waiting,

"Well for me, there wasn't much of a difference to the two relationships because on set while filming we're our characters. It’s not like I go about talking all low and disgruntled all the time like my character does and Zayn, well he's far different than Dave in many ways. I know people might think it’s weird because, 'Oh wow, we play brothers in a movie but sleep together off set'. But no, it doesn't affect me, because Dave and Ken are fictional characters. He's not really me. I can try to understand his actions and give reasons for what he's doing or done based on what I know from working on the script and characterization, but in reality we're two different people, all of our fans can tell the obvious differences. When you guys see the gag reel, bloopers, every time I fall out of character I revert back to...me. The same goes for Zayn. The movie isn’t based on how much sex these brothers can have whether with each other or not. Sure the director tried to put in some hella awesome sexual tension into the roles but Zayn and I don't, well we tried not to put too much stress into the tension. Although the fan girls will manage to pick them out anyway. They're brothers; of course they're gonna scuffle once in a while. And I know for a fact that me and this guy right here connected on a more, uh, buddy level first, so we know when to separate groping from the fisting-uh fist fighting. So, Dave and Ken? Not lovers. Liam and Zayn, yeah, we like to...yeah" Zayn uncurls his leg.

Liam's verbal diarrhea rears its ugly head. Seriously, did he just say fisting on national TV? Zayn wants to smack himself on the forehead for not interrupting but hopes that that tad bit of information is ignored, because the rest of it was actually pretty good. In fact, Zayn felt the same way. They don't let work come between them, because if they did then things would be awkward on so many levels. Although it was their first ever time filming a movie Zayn is extremely grateful that they were able to do it together. For this movie they played the roles to their strongest but other than being brothers based on what is required of them it doesn't spill over into their everyday lives. And for that, he's thankful.

"Who's the better dancer?"

"Liam" Zayn answers automatically.

Liam glances at Zayn, his smile turning into a self-conscious pout,

"Well, I uh,..." he gives a nervous laugh.

"Hide me", came the mumbled reply from behind the hand. The lovers share a laugh, joined quickly by the interviewer. Liam accuses Zayn of bursting some moves himself and Zayn doesn't even bother denying it.   
"So Miley Cyrus was on the Soundtrack for the movie. Did you guys get to organize with her personally?"

Liam actually grins excitedly, clapping his hands. Zayn sighs, deciding he should answer this one before Liam had the chance to.

"Yes actually. The, the idea to have her on the soundtrack came from one of our members, Jessica, and the producers were all like, "Oh, that could work" and eventually we did get to meet up with her and she gave us the acoustic version for a song she had in mind. Liam then proceeded to carry her over his shoulder" Zayn adds the last part while pointing an accusing finger at Liam. The other man takes it as his cue to say something.

"She's so light" he sits forward, his hands up and gesturing broadly as he speaks, "But seriously though, the song was really cool and the beats are awesome. It was like, bah, dun, dun, dun, bah, bah, dun, dun, dun, dun, lalalala, lou, lou..." as he attempts to imitate the beat of the song Liam gives up and launches into a sort of air guitar solo that has him banging his head, his lower body popping and shaking.

"See what I put up with." Zayn deadpans again, pretending to look elsewhere.  
***  
After the movie’s excitement had died down, Cadence’s activities started up again but then Zayn got a call for the leading role in a Disney movie slash amateur teen version of a James Bond flick. Zayn's first thought was, 'wrong number'. But then he retorts mentally that the person on the line had said precisely and clearly, Zayn Malik. His second thought was, 'He means Juan Marik some Puerto Rican-Arabic actor or something that had the same spelling of his name but with a whole bunch of hieroglyphic accents in it, because the person on the other line clearly had the wrong person.  
Liam had seen his partner standing shock still, holding the phone away from his ear while his face was void of emotion. Concerned and a bit thrown off by Zayn’s weird behavior Liam had taken the phone away, a little surprised at how easy it had come out of the other man's seemly slack grip.

"Who is this?" The fair haired man had asked in a hurry.

Zayn knew exactly when Liam had been informed of the news because he had been shaken and hugged so tightly by the excited man, who had bounced on his toes while holding Zayn causing the other man to shake along involuntarily. He remembered Liam screaming "Yes! Yes,of course he'll do it!" into the phone. Liam then dropped the phone onto a nearby surface and proceeded to kiss Zayn sloppily, whispering words of encouragement, like, "You're going to be great, Zaynnie! And I am going to have my own 007"  
@@@@@@@@@  
Present Day:

Zayn chuckled into the ocean stained air as he recalled how overjoyed and playful Liam had gotten after the call. He had even called his parents, a childlike expression of wonder and amazement on his face as he retold the story. Zayn had sat back in relaxation, his previous nerves forgotten as he took in the sight of a flushed and grinning Liam. Seeing Liam reaction was another slap to the face, showing just how lucky he was.

He takes a sip of the beer.

Then  
During the script reading, hard working hours, martial arts training and being away from home for four months Zayn realized the deep seated, almost neglected passion he had for acting. Sure he had been willing to take part in the Supernatural film because of the experience and working alongside Liam. However, making and promoting this epic adventure film was such a thrill and mind blowing phenomenon within his young life outside of music that he’d become extremely passionate about the movie industry.   
Another brilliance within filming Adrenalin was that it gave Zayn the opportunity to drive and crash a whole bunch of expensive fast cars. It was like he had been asked to star in a Fast and Furious flick. He spoke to Liam mostly every day when he could, his Skype messenger always signed in and ready for a video call when he arrived at whatever 5 star hotel he was staying, in all he had switched hotels five times over in, two in New York, then an additional 2 more in Chicago, and one in Italy, however, as Liam had constantly reminded him ‘A man travels the world in search for what he needs but returns home to find it’.

“Wow. The ‘My baby can read’ program really does work” Zayn had teased, letting the meaning of the words wash over and soothe his senses.

He managed to call Liam in between takes, trying to condense the recently occurred events into a 10 minute conversation. On set he fell in love with 3 gorgeous cars. Zayn has never cared much for luxurious vehicles but when Producer had revealed to him a black Maybach exelero in Chicago, Zayn had climbed in, started the engine and she had purred hungrily, instantly leaving him breathless. He named her Kitty. After a quick test run Zayn had given her one last seductive stroke, using the pad of his index finger to glide brazenly over her flawless cherry red hood. The car had him by the balls.

"I'm leaving you" is the first thing he tells Liam when he gets the chance to call.

Liam makes a sound between a snort and a laugh, "For who? The co-star?"

With Liam's reply Zayn is shivering in disgust. It’s not that he doesn't like his costar but the thought of being intimate with the former child star sweetheart Samantha Fox appears to be is not on his agenda in this lifetime. Samantha had passed him as he swerved by the buffet table; she gives him her recurring red lipped jezebel smile, a girly wave and a wink so devilishly it makes him uncomfortable. She plays his younger sister and she’s like 12 for God's sake!

Instead of answering Zayn removes the phone from his ear, scrolls through the menu, and then brings up an image of the car. He quickly emails it to Liam's phone. Placing the phone back at his ear he only has to wait two minutes before the other man replies.

"I don't blame ya. She's a beauty"

"She had me at 'vroom'" Zayn makes himself sound as dreamy as possible. His heart flutters instinctively when Liam laughs.

"Well I can't say I'm into threesomes so my best option is to kill the bitch"

Zayn had gasped dramatically, "Kill. The. Bitch? I hope you mean Samantha" then he glances around just to make sure than the girl isn't in hearing distance. She's not.

"Why? Do I gotta smoke her pipe too?"

"Smoke. Her. Pipe?" this makes Zayn pause, "Stop watching all those Rush Hour movies?"

"Racist much" Liam accuses, his tone the perfect embodiment of anger. Zayn knows better.

"Liam" he elongates the word in a stern manner. “No more Grand Theft Auto, okay?”

Said man huffs on the other line, "So, what's up on set?"

Zayn had launched into a brief rundown of the activities thus far but all too soon his time is up and he's wanted in hair and makeup again.

The other two vehicles that he falls in love with are pretty spectacular also but not on the same scale as 'Kitty'. He gets to drive 3 different colored Audis, 'Kitty' and a lime green Lamborghini. He does a lot of 180s in his Lamborghini scene in Naples, Italy and it’s because of this movie that Zayn realized he had a new hunger for doing fight scenes and basically any form of badass action.  
A Rolls Royce makes an appearance in the film but he doesn't drive it, rather he gets to be driven around in it by his ‘driver’ and then Samantha’s character gets to speed it down a freeway before a stunt double runs an exact copy of the rolls royce off a bridge.

Liam loves hearing about the action and his stunts and sometimes they sleep together after conversing tirelessly, their laptops facing their sleeping persons. In the morning all Zayn has to do is flick at the mouse pad a little to deactivate the screensaver, which consists of a compilation of their vacation pictures, and in a matter of seconds he can see his boyfriend's sleep mashed face and hear the light breathing as it is intensified by Liam's laptop microphone. Before leaving for the day he always woke Liam up first, they would say their goodbyes and Zayn would be one step closer to returning home to his flesh and blood partner rather than having him displayed over Skype.

With yet another success under his belt, Liam and Zayn were pivoted even more into the social gossip.

It was only after they starred in movie directed by Gene Lee, a noted top rated Chinese director, which involved the both of them playing roles opposite each other once again that persons began referring to them as Britain’s Sweethearts.   
Previously they had just gotten used to being dubbed as Ziam (in a sexual way) openly, but a status as Britain's Sweethearts seemed a bit farfetched. They smiled whenever anyone referred to them as such but had already vowed in secret to not let it go to their heads.

Liam, nevertheless, had used his credibility to open a charity shelter which would cater for abused teens, who needed a place of refuge. They both agreed on an orphanage caring house, that they built and established in a quiet countryside. 

Presently, ‘One Direction Charity’ foundation was home to 74 teens and a few underage children, who were either kicked out of their homes because of their sexuality or have suffered severe abuse from parents or guardians. Some of them just don't have anywhere else to go and Liam just can't say no to devastated puppy dog eyes that can rival his lover’s.   
Zayn decided that they would install a teaching system, along with the comfort of dormitories and medical support.

The dormitories provided a bed and individual personal space for 6 persons. So they had a sort of buddy system to help even things out among the kids. The attendants followed a schedule through the weekdays, which consisted of a minor morning exercise program, breakfast, school (from 8a.m - 3p.m) homework, whatever activities they wished to engage in (NO SEX: A rule by Liam) and then finally dinner.

The weekends were left undecided considering that during the week the students would place a piece of paper with an idea or activity written on it into a large paper machete box that Liam liked to call 'The big, big box of everything'. What happens is that during Saturday and Sunday morning, the kids would gather on the lawn then a member of staff would reach into the box, pulling one of the papers out and announce the idea for that day.  
If the suggestion seemed generally unorthodox then it would be set aside immediately while another was chosen, or Michelle, the head of staff, would call Zayn to ask if it was okay for them to go through with it. Mostly Zayn would react irrational, grinning energetically as he says 'yes' to the kids having a paint filled balloon fight on the premises. It was moments like those that Liam stepped in to provide a more reasonable approach.

Liam wanted to expand the number of foundations in the future and Zayn had promised that they’d get to be more involved with the children if ever they got around to establishing others.   
Those plans seemed to be on hold at the moment and Zayn wasn't so positive if Liam would eventually follow through with them, with or without him.

By late October 2016 they were at the top of the game. Movie roles were lined up for their viewing, calls kept coming in, the media was being the pain the ass it always was and Liam had proposed.   
Zayn had been stumped.   
They had been watching cartoons (Liam's idea) eating lifesavers gummies (Liam's idea) when Zayn had found himself digging into the bowl for the red ones, because he loved those best.

'Fucking Liam must have hid them all at the bottom', he had thought in frustration, glaring at the side of his boyfriend's face. He scanned the gummies using the light from the TV, his hand digging about greedily. His last thought before he felt something cold and hard between the gummies was that he hoped Liam liked having Zayn's hand germs all over his precious snacks.

"Lee, are you trying to poi...son..." he was speaking to his boyfriend all the while he lifted his hand out of the bowl, the item in his palms. When at last he looked at it, he discovered a ring, squeaking out a startled "me", then gulping as he studied the large, translucent gem that almost seemed to outshine it's thick yellow-diamond encrusted white gold band. An engagement ring?

"Where the fuck do you buy your lifesavers?" ‘Because if these were the prizes they had in those packages nowadays they weren't doing their profits any benefit’ he had thought foolishly. When he glanced back up at Liam, the other man was already facing him, a small hopeful smile on his face.   
Zayn is frozen but this doesn't seem to be noticed by Liam who takes the ring, holding it in front of Zayn’s face. His words of love and devotion aren't lost on the younger man but then Zayn is stammering out,

"W-wait" cutting Liam off before he can finish his confession, a speech that seemed had taken his boyfriend a while to gather up the courage to say. They sat there in silence for a while, Liam lowers the ring into his palm, squeezing his hand closed around the item.

"I'm, sorry..." Zayn remembers mumbling miserably. It wasn't that he didn't love Liam, he did. But he wasn't....they weren't ready...for that...

"It’s okay. Maybe it was too soon" was all Liam had said.

Zayn had sworn things would get awkward the next day but Liam appeared quite inviting and chipper. That was before they went outside for their morning jog together, and were immediately bombarded by paparazzi who yelled questions of the engagement at them. Zayn had looked at Liam with an expression that clearly read, "Who told them?"

The other man had shrugged, "A fly on the wall?" he guessed timidly. Light brown eyes had narrowed suspiciously and later after the jog Liam explained that he had told only their personal manager, Chad, of his intention to propose.

Chad called around 9 am that day to wish them congratulations and Zayn had handed the phone to Liam, who explained the situation. Chad claimed that he had barely hinted at the idea on to a friend and was immediately apologetic.

"Chad says he's sorry and that he'd get them to print a retraction" Liam had told him after. Zayn liked Chad, but sometimes-oh God sometimes.

"Don't you want to marry me?" Liam mumbles into his chest as they lay in bed that night. Zayn wants to say yes. He wants to tell Liam how much he'd loved to marry him, how much he means to him, but, it just doesn't come out the way he wants it too.

"Of course I do. But I don't think it's the right time" Zayn almost flinches, his eyes shutting themselves tightly as he thinks to himself, whether or not that was the right thing to say. When Liam had been in mid proposal speech Zayn had been captivated by the vulnerably and excitement that had been etched into every contour of the other man's face. Shortly before he had nervously declined, Zayn had had a brief flash of want. He wanted to say yes, just for the sake of making Liam happy. He always wanted to keep that broad smile on Liam's face, knowing that it kept him satisfied to keep Liam joyous.

He loves Liam, loves him so much that he'd do or say anything to keep him happy but this, this was huge. His feelings felt so jumbled at the moment that he had a moment of confusion where he might have placed his denial on the religious bringing he had. . In the past he had seen marriage as being on such a sacred level of feelings that...

Oh fucking...no that wasn’t it either. His love for Liam was on whole other level beyond sacred, too precious to undermine it so easily.  
But it was the small nagging pinch at the base of his brain that had bought about the point that he had a meeting with the writers for ‘Take the coolest boy in school’ on Tuesday and Liam was currently reading the working on composing his original song for Cadence. They were barely free to do anything much, their schedules packed to the brim for at least the next 5 months and its weighing down his mentality, especially now that he wants to add acting to his lifestyle.   
He doesn’t want to have a drawn out engagement, the company would probably be alright with them getting married but they’d want to plan it and set a date and try to materialize the engagement announcement as another profit earner. They could wait, yes, wait until they finish their last project and can finally take a year off from the world of tabloids and screenplay…

He popped one eye open slowly, finding Liam's amused face instantly. The other man has now climbed up and has his head on Zayn's pillow. Before Zayn can launch into another half-assed excuse where he just stutters hurriedly, Liam was already saying,

"At least I didn't tell my mother"

Sensing less tension, Zayn decides not to add more pressure to the situation because he sees that Liam understands.

"Yeah. She seemed pretty upset to have had to hear it from a friend rather than her own son"

"Next time we'll tell our parents together" Liam says dreamily, as if he already planning his next proposal.

Zayn's not an asshole, he doesn't want to hurt Liam's feelings twice in one day, therefore he promises,

"Yes, next time. And don't tell Chad" Zayn has never refused Liam anything because he always eventually gave in.

He remembers thinking that the next day he would talk to Liam about his reasons for not wanting to get married just yet, hoping to give Liam a better explanation of why he had said no. Unfortunately, he hadn't gotten the chance to because Harry woke them up with a very early phone call that annoyed Zayn (It had been a Saturday) but the call itself had Liam offering up congratulations, the reason for it being that Harry had gotten word that he’s performing in the Broadway production of Death of a Salesman.

They had went to see the play every day within its opening week before their busy lives acquisitively demanded their full attention. 

Ziam continued on being Britain's Sweethearts but if Zayn had known that Liam intended his next proposal to be so soon he would've been a little more prepared for it.  
They'd just finished filming their latest movie together which was a film based on , or rather a continuation to the great hit, Avatar. When word had gotten out that Ziam would be doing an extended remix of sorts on the film, featuring Zayn as Neytiri and Jake's adventurous son, Tavron and Liam as the wimpy son of a Military General, who is forced to go to Omaticayans to discuss a treaty, the Magazine journalist's had had a field day with it. He recalled one article being entitled, 'The movie where Liam and Zayn were the same height'. Which was a complete exaggeration, since they hadn't released any footage of the movie whatsoever and none of the cast or majority of the crew had seen any visuals of the finished movie as yet.

Everything had been kept under wraps, even the premature screenshots were under lock and key. The movie was a thrill to film because it starred a mixed variety of great actors such as Dylan O’brien (he plays Liam's companion), Blake Lively (who plays an Avatar), and Jensen Ackles (Liam's father’s Lieutenant) and strangely enough, Tom Welling (who played a younger version of Sigourney Weaver's role as a member of the Resources Development Administration). Chanley Timms, an up and coming solo artist, made a small appearance at the middle of the plot, his days on set being one of hilarity as he seemed to be Dylan's missing half. If the movie had been released on schedule Zayn assumed that they would've gotten an award for the Gayest cast.  
The next proposal came in April 2012. Now that he thought about it, Liam had been overly antsy since February but he had thought it was because the lunatic assistant director of Tavron had run off with what could've been their greatest hit. With agents running back and forth trying to sort matters out Zayn had gotten lost within the commotion thus being caught off guard again by a very affectionate Liam one evening at dinner. It was two weeks before their performance on the VMAs of that year, and they had been practicing all morning and all Zayn wanted to do was enjoy a nice warm dinner with his boyfriend. He remembers falling into a sea of memories as he listens to Liam’s chatter. He recalled their evening at the Alexandra Palace ice skating rink, specifically for a calm and exuberating evening.   
Of course the cameras had found them as usual but Zayn had landed on his ass a few times less than usual.

"You're getting better at this" Liam had commented, helping the other man to his feet, then moving his hands to Zayn's hips as the other man got his legs straightened accordingly, finally succeeding in maintaining his balance.

"Just you wait. I'll be skating..." he takes a deep breath, "skating circles around you in no time" As if Liam hadn't been victim to that 'threat' ...or was it a 'promise now, hn, whatever it was nowadays, Liam had been hearing it since the start of their evening. Still he had only managed to grin knowingly, shrugging lightly as if to say 'we'll see'

A mischievous glint was summoned into the taller man's eyes and Liam only had a moment to recognize the familiarity of it before Zayn pushed himself forward, this movement almost causing him to do a split as one leg skidded out further than it should. Automatically Liam had reached out to steady him but Zayn was already yelling,

"Race ya to the end!"

Smiling eyes simply followed in amusement, watching a scene that seemed similar to a man on stilts attempting to break-dance on thin ice without falling through. His boyfriend's idea of ice racing had less to do with skill and more to do with entertainment and making Liam worry. Ignoring the reporters and flashing cameras, Liam rushed forward elegantly as Zayn's arms began to frail drollery in the air. Catching Zayn under the arm as the other man drifts backwards Liam collapses under the sudden weight, his legs and skates caught off guard to the newly added unstable pressure.

Liam felt a bit embarrassed, knowing that tomorrow there would be several pictures of their little fun but Zayn was laughing hysterically and Liam thought that once again, it’s that laugh that makes moments like these bearable. Getting lost in the sensations of sweet humor around them Liam leans forward and brushes his lips to the chilled line of Zayn’s jaw. Later, on their way to the car, Liam would suffer defeat at the hands of Zayn's surprise snowball fight.

They were in the VIP section of a cozy restaurant, not wanting to be bothered by prying eyes and the waiter was looking way too comfortable leaning over to talk to Liam, who had smiled warmly before ordering. Breaking out of the memory flooded daze Zayn's eyes had followed the sleek waiter as he left them alone once more. He swung his head around at Liam to ask just what he had thought of their star struck waiter when he saw that his lover was no longer in his seat but on the floor besides him, kneeling on one leg and a very expensive red box risen to Zayn's eye level.  
'Oh God'  
****  
PRESENT:

Of course anyone could guess what happened after that.

Zayn slumps over the railing, the cool, smooth wooden surface tickling his bare stomach. The hand that held the beer was hanging limply over the banister, fingers wrapped loosely around the neck of the bottle. He is fed up of berating himself for being such an idiot. After a while even wallowing in self-pity gets boring. Onigami Sensei had said that feeling sorry for oneself was like a using a sheep's head to clog a drain. Which clearly meant that you should keep sheep-talk to a minimum if you're going to try and counsel someone. It is April 2017, approximately one month since there Liam had said they needed some time apart and exactly 5 months since Tavron was supposed to be released. The only copy had been kidnapped by the first Assistant director, Levithan Davis.

This pissed off Zayn repeatedly, because although the movie was a sort of parody of sorts it portrays Liam and Zayn's characters as very ‘snug’ companions and he found the plot and extensive filming of it had been ecstatic and unique to any sort of movie he or Liam had ever taken part in previously. The idea for the movie came about as a sort of joke; no one had expected anyone to consider making a film that tried to continue the Avatar franchise whether for comedic purposes or otherwise. The movie had even referred to as The Blue Brokeback Mountain by a Perez Hilton.

Then

Getting a budget for the movie proved an even more difficult task but the matter had been settled before Levithian started casting. Stephney Potter was the casting agent, and she originally intended the role of Tavron and Michael to be portrayed by men who were attractive and in their early 20s or late teens. She had hoped to introduce the world to two fresh faced men, their talent predominant throughout the entire film.

However, it had been Director Gene Lee who had bought about the suggestion that Liam and Zayn would be the perfect couple to reenact this form of 'true forbidden love'. Levithian’s idea for Tavron was that he would be a young warrior about 18 in human years, while Michael would be a rugged 21 year old playboy. After meeting and hearing the plans for this film, the couple read the script together, trying to develop and display a certain characteristics that they could bring to the personality of the characters and Stephney admitted to herself that they both had excellent connectivity which was needed for the heated dialogue between Michael and Tavron.  
The two were in great health, had wonderful personalities and looked amazing. Levithian had agreed, but made a mental note to have the computer geeks do everything they can to knock at least 5 years off of their Avatars’ appearance. By the time Levithian was done overruling the editing of the Avatar image, Liam would look like a preteen girl and Zayn would be the 5th Jonas brother.

At first Zayn had thought it would've flopped on the first day of shooting but the technology was so much greater than it had been during the 2009 film, therefore making it a bit easier on the actors when it came time to portray their Avatars. The chemistry between them was amazing, or so was claimed by Paul Lewis, who overseered on behalf of James Cameron to ensure that they didn’t brutalize his vision of the Avatar franchise.

'The way you two look on screen together sets no boundaries to the mind’s eye'. Gene hadn’t wanted the movie to be called ‘Avatar 2’ which would entitle it as being a sequel and bring up a lot more legal action with Cameron. However, using their own name was rather a dream come true for Levithian since he got to fangirl about it a little. The main character ‘Tavron’ was renamed by Levithian, which was toss-up change from the writers’ original choice of ‘Lexel’. Zayn and Liam knew that there had been some protest from the members of the crew, seeing that the name seemed to close to ‘Tarzan’ in terms of the plot and character analysis. Nevertheless, Levithian stamped his foot, floundered dramatically and spoke in tongues until he got to keep the name.

It was a far cry from what he would've expected to become of the first Avatar movie but Cameron allowed the slight continuation at a price, ensuring that the movie was on the right track to earn a satisfactory profit, hoping that it was received well.

There was quite a lot of comedy than the first film had had; however, there was the all-embracing amount of action, drama and blue-people angst. Thankfully there had been a rational decision to cut the so called, 'sex scene' which must've been written by a horny fan girl because it had sounded way too raunchy and too...out there. Zayn assumed suspiciously that it had been written by Levithian Davis, the man just reminded him of a scruffy Ashley Tisdale, really girly looking with the exception of a struggling goatee. The ‘romance’ between him and Liam was reduced to a ton load of chaste cheek kissing and touching, with a bit of Liam looking at Zayn with 'Come fuck me' eyes.   
Sex in a PG movie? Come on!  
It was extremely pure dumb luck that Levithian had not issued the release date for Tavron to the public and therefore since no one outside their small group, the cast and crew and maybe a few other significant socialites, did not know when the movie was supposed to be released then it left no openings for the media to inquire into the whereabouts of the film, leaving the scandalous matters to be dealt with in private.

Even with its release date unannounced the world of entertainment did not let the idea for the movie rest. When they'd first gotten wind of the script’s concept for the movie, several magazines had taken the scoop public. After that Liam and Zayn found themselves taking a lot of teases from family members, close friends and Louis, the bastard.

"Zayn! How could you!?" Louis had barked in absolute shock when Zayn allowed him to enter the foyer of their home early one morning. Liam, who had been behind him, catches Zayn's gaze and they wonder what the hell is wrong with the other man. 'He doesn't look drunk' Zayn was sure his curious glance must have told Liam.

"How could he what?" Liam had stated.

Louis just shakes his head solemnly; holding up a copy of a magazine but the back of it is facing them while Louis is staring at the cover.

"He's cheating on you with this guy!" Louis's shocked facade melts like butter as his face creases with laugh lines, snorting loudly before bursting into a hideous crackle. Liam grabs the magazine, Louis grabs his stomach,

Zayn wants to grab Louis's throat and throttle the man. Then Liam begins laughing and Zayn peers at him in question. Liam holds it up, showing Zayn the front and he remembers wanting to throttle the man or woman who had doctored a photo of his head and placed it on Neytiri's body while Liam's not-so-blue, smiling head was horrendously placed on Jake's Avatar body.

The least they could've done was make Liam and his faces blue. He could tell they weren't exactly going for professionalism, but did they have to put the heading as, 'Still don't believe they're gay?' Although, as he continued to stare at the art he finds himself chuckling and decides that ridiculous picture thumps the crude heading.  
***********  
Present

Zayn was not entirely cut off from the outside world. He had internet and satellite TV, so he knew what the entertainment updates were. Liam and Harry were still in Los Angeles but mostly avoided answering questions from the stalking paparazzi. He'd been very annoyed as he watched some program do a 30 second airing of 'Star sighting' where one clip featured Liam, Niall and Harry talking animatedly while they moved toward a black GMC Terrain.

It was their vehicle. Well, technically it was more Liam's than his but that wasn't what was annoying him; it was the fact that that bitch of a reporter had made a comment about Liam and Harry being the new 'it' couple.

"Where's Zayn? That’s the real question on everyone’s mind" she had later gone on to say.

It was all Harry's fault. He had 'suggested' to Liam that Zayn must be feeling a bit overwhelmed in terms of their relationship and everything else that’s happening around them and that maybe they needed a little break from each other in order for them to straighten their precedence.  
THEN

"So why don't we just go somewhere together? Like spend a vacation in Fiji, alone, together, without Harry!" Zayn had pleaded, watching Liam's slim hips as the other man moved from closet to bed to suitcase.

"Because. It seems like I'm the only one who's willing to move in halfway and maybe even a little extra but you, you don't seem much invested in this relationship, Zayn"

"Oh come on! I love you more than anyone I've ever had the chance of being with Liam. Me and you, that’s what always comes first, Liam…We’ve only been officially together a year and some now”

“Yes! ONE lousy year, huh?! Zayn… but we've been friends even longer! And you still don't see that as reason enough to want to marry me" he hadn't been shouting, Zayn had felt the immediate shift of tension in the atmosphere. In an attempt to calm the situation, he says

"We don't need a ring to show people that we love each other, Liam. They can see that just from the way that I look at you. From the way that you look at me” then in desperation he accidentally shouts, “Look at me!" Liam keeps his back turned for a moment before swinging around haughtily. Zayn hadn't meant to shout but the lack of eye contact was breaking his reverie. He was urgently trying to make Liam see that his reasons mattered also.

"It’s not about showing the world how much you love Zayn. It’s about us, the reason I've been putting so much emphasis on this is because, because I've always wanted to marry the, man that I love" Liam smiles at his choice of words.

Zayn smiles to in return, the mild lift of tension comforting.

"Don't you want to spend the rest of your life with me, Zayn?"

"Of course I do! That’s what I've been trying to say-"

"I know, I know. But couldn't you just do this for me. I mean, I'll be the same person even with your ring on my finger. Think of it as another step in us sharing our lives together. Make an honest man out of me, already" Liam teases, a smirk ghosting his lips as he kneels in front of Zayn, his large hands massaging Zayn's thighs.

"I've done that plenty of times" Zayn states offhandedly. Liam had sighed, dropping his hands onto his own knee before pushing off of the ground.

"You really don't want to get married?" the question that would make or break them. Zayn knew it, Liam knew it and yet he still couldn't commit wholesomely enough for Liam to stay. He had wanted to call Liam selfish, remind him that Zayn had always been on his side, always listened to his reasoning, why couldn't he do the same. But he had held it back, his intention being that saying such a thing would just have complicated matters further.

He didn't want to turn this into a bigger problem than it should be. Liam might've wanted his space, a time to clear his head and Zayn would give it to him because all he wants, all he needs is to make Liam happy. 'Then say yes', his mind had screamed at him, green eyes glued to the door that the taller man had been moving toward with a light suitcase. He also felt that familiar tug at his heartstrings when Liam told him he was going to his parent’s house.

It had pained him to think of Liam ever suggesting a separation between them and it really fucking sucked that it was actually happening now because the tug had turned into a stabbing pinch.

Liam had glanced over his shoulder, giving Zayn a look that told him that the other man had had something to say. Seeing Liam's face just then reminded Zayn of just how stubborn the two can be. He remembers wishing that Louis or Harry were there so that they could step in and be the voice of reason, allowing him and Liam see what idiots they were being. But sadly, they weren’t and no one was there to stop the two pigheaded men from being completely irrational.

After Liam left, Zayn figured he too would use their time a part to think things over and clear his mind a little. He really and truly loves Liam and had promised that no matter how long they both took to call each other that everything between them would be okay at the end of the day. Well...he had thought that those matters would've been resolved within a day...too bad that wasn't the case. He then went on to spend the rest of that night on the terrace before heading back inside to watch DVDs of One Direction performances but only focusing his attention on the carefree vocalist that was young Liam. He realized at one point that he missed his short hair, touching absently at his flopping surfer LA douche length.

As their separation grew longer and seem to stretch on for years he had forgotten the idea of getting it cut that he had had that night and it had grown past the top of his shoulder, a rugged beard covering his chin completely. It was only after he bought the Sensei Onigami DVD and moved into the Executive home that he finally managed to pull himself together. You know, because if he was going to get Liam back he needed to appear better physically and emotionally.

PRESENT

Although he moved into the condo, 20 days ago, running from the constant nagging of his parents and the managers, this had been the first day he had chosen to listen to Onigami DVD and the fact that he couldn't manage to relax enough to finish the first session on it showed just how far he had come emotionally. Physically, however, he had actually shaven the day before for the first time since Liam left, but the haircut had been done professionally three days before.

"Zayn! DON'T!" Zayn was forced out of his thoughts, a tall, lean body colliding against his and before he could get out a word, he was being flung bodily onto the ground.

"Tomo, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Zayn mumbles as he pushes himself up into a sitting position.

"You weren't about to commit drunken, pitiful suicide then?" Louis asks, taking in Zayn's short, ruffled hair, bare torso and ugly sweat pants.

"No" Zayn deadpans scandalously. Louis shrugs. 'Can't blame a guy for jumping to conclusions'

Remembering what his true purpose for coming to Zayn's hideout was, Louis claps his hands together, startling a thoughtful Zayn. The two meet eyes, Zayn's eyebrows rose as if to say 'now what?' while Louis smiled secretively.

"I've got news doll. Good, good news" the older man declares.

Zayn finally stood, bracing a hand against the foundation to guide him. He gave a noncommittal shrug, not really asking what the news is nor was he denying that he didn't want to know. The split beer forms the shape of plankton on the wooden floor but Zayn doesn't pay too much attention to it before going back inside.

"We've found Tavron" Louis says, following his friend.

"The Movie?" Zayn asks skeptically, looking over his shoulder to see the newly dyed dirty blonde's reaction. Louis nods affirmatively.

"You 'found' Tavron. Seriously?" he spins until he's facing Louis, searching the other man's body with his eyes for any sign of the film.

"Where is it?" he inquires, glancing around the living room.

"That’s the thing. Davis called Chad and said that he will premiere the movie on his own terms. Now if you would pick up your damn phone once in some weeks you would know this"

So Davis was calling the shots again, was he? Zayn chewed his bottom lip, then asked,

"What are his terms?"

The smile Louis gives Zayn is enough to chill his blood. It was more of a Grinch Stole Christmas smile, so knowing and devious. Just then, the smile wasn't the only thing giving Zayn the shivers. Argh. Imagining Louis in green fur, a pot belly and no pants was doing a good job of it too. >_


	2. Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Completed fic :)

****

"Mus-Ty-Q-e?...-_-''...Wait! Oh fuck? Oh fuck I think we’re going to Japan! Fuck yeah!" Niall blurts out, leaping from his seat with excitement. Liam rolls his eyes at his friend's behavior.

"It's pronounced Mus-teek, Niall. And it hasn't moved from the Caribbean in the last minute. So no. No Japan" Liam's stern film Agent, Yendal Hazels says, putting an end to Niall's tirade.

"Buzzkill"

Niall's reply goes unanswered as Liam and Yendal focus in on more important matters.

"Has Zayn already been told?" Liam has to ask. That is, if Zayn even wants to come to the private screening of the first romantic movie they ever did together. It was his decision after all whether or not he wanted to quit his private game of Marco Polo, even Chad was complaining to Yendal (and Liam just happened to overhear their conversation)about Zayn's obstinate behavior lately.

He misses him so much but lately Zayn seems to have more time for himself than he does for Liam. Zayn could never have been called a selfish man but Liam was begging to differ as the days went by. He had wanted to call Zayn the first night after he had left their penthouse but Harry had opted the point that if Zayn really needed him and understood what Liam's reasons for wanting him so powerfully were then he'd call.

A month later and still nothing. Zayn seemed to have just dropped off the radar, and for once Liam wasn't so sure where he could be and it was killing him. All Louis had to say was that Liam should call Zayn and then handed the tall man a docket with an unrecognizable phone number written on the back. Louis also went on to say that they should both stop being so damned retarded about things. Naturally, this was one of those two-way street things that would enforce the fact that Liam could've picked up the phone too, apologize if he had to, but instead he chose to leave things as they were as if everything would just fall into place on its own. They were both just too willful to cave and call the other first.

As usual life's a bitch and Love's a hard-ass. He didn't know if they were broken up, God he hoped they weren't. Was their relationship on hiatus for the time being? How long was either of them planning to wait before things got out of control?

"Yes actually. Chad was already informed but I think he's got her hands full with contacting Zayn"

"Well he always was a stubborn bastard" Liam doesn't mean it the way it comes out. What he really wants to do now is to go to his bed and cram his face into the pillow until Harry comes back with lunch. Harry seemed like the only stable person in his life right now. And it seemed like America was having the same train of thought concerning Harry and Liam’s new ‘relationship’. From the earfuls he was getting in the morning, at lunch and twice at dinner from his mother, Liam could only give a small laugh whenever he thought about just how much more lectures Zayn must be getting from his own mother.

"You guys still not talking?" Yendal asks, overly sympathizing her words as if Zayn was some kind of ghost and they’d never be together physically on this earthly plain ever again. She really needed to learn how much emotion to put into a sentence.

"Not talking? More like brooding behind each other’s' backs while waiting for the other to call or show up" Niall scoffs, reading the Mustique pamphlet Yendal had bought in with her. Niall was not a part of the movie but due to his current status as infamous TV host, he had been invited. Niall was what the world of Hollywood called the new ‘Ryan Seacrest’. He was very popular for his America hosting events such as the Oscars and his radio broadcast show. 

"I didn't ask for your input now did I, Mr. Horan" Now she was accenting her displeasure way too harshly.

"I didn't ask for your input, Mr. Horan" Niall mimics back mockingly. Yendal opens her mouth but catches Liam shaking his head at her through the corner of her eye. She huffs, choosing to remain professional at the moment. Liam knew they were fucking. It wasn’t that hard to figure it out.

"Anyways, whatever’s happening between me and Zayn won't disrupt the trip. We'll simply say, we're, we're promoting the movie" Liam tells her and he planned to work out whatever tiff is between them permanently.  
Yendal nods in agreement.

"We leave next week Friday" she informs him.

"Can I bring Harry?"

Liam knows that the next morning at around 5:04 a.m he's going to wake up to a forlorn feeling in bed again, sulking to the bathroom miserably while rubbing at his eyes, then attempting to nap until sunrise. He will later reawaken 5 minutes later from a phantom, loud snore that sends his heart thundering against his chest. For a moment he'll sit up in bed and run his hands across what he had decided to be Zayn's vacated space of the mattress and recall why it had startled him so much.

Although the snore itself appeared to have come from him, he couldn't help but be a little surprised because it reminded him of Zayn's disgruntled snore that he would make whenever Liam reenters the bed. It was a sound that was quickly followed by one of Zayn's arms draping over his waist, the slimer man snuggling deeper into his side once more.   
Liam will find himself fully awake a few seconds later, not able to sleep in the lonely, frozen sheets once more. 

A few days later,

Zayn and Liam were driving towards the airport to rendezvous with the others.  
“Promoting the Movie?" Zayn asks incredulously.

"That’s what Harry told me" Louis confirms. “

"Even hearing his name is irritating" the younger man mumbles, knowing that he sounded very childish. Instead of looking at Louis, who he knows is going to retort with some catty remark about Zayn acting like a Diva, the former member chooses to enjoy the view through his very dark, very tainted Bugatti window. 'Hmm. That looks like a tree' he thinks, trying to make out the shape of whatever it is that just went by.

"You know Liam asked for Harry specifically right" Louis sulks, then adds, "I had to beg you to invite me"

"That’s because you irritate me at times" Zayn answers truthfully, his thoughts edging on the fact that they were going to be meeting Liam and the others shortly. "Besides you're getting to drive my Bugatti."

Louis doesn't comment on that final statement. So what if he got to choose the vehicle, it had been an easy choice selecting from either the Bugatti or the silver Cherokee.

"Well some friend you are. First I had to go all Dora the Explorer looking for you, get your lazy, coward bum out of there, and then I have to beg you to take me with you. And as for me choosing this..." he strokes the smooth, shiny, purple and black leather that covered the steering wheel sweetly with the tips of his fingers before fisting both hands tightly on opposite angles of it, "fucking, hot piece of ass vehicle. There wasn't much to choose from anyways. I'm assuming Liam got the best ones during the divorce plus Bambi"

Light brown lasers bore into the side of Louis' grinning face,

"You know if you keep talking like this I'm going to withdraw your invitation" Zayn says very seriously.  
Louis's mouth ceases up like he just ate something sour but his eyes remain on the slightly, dark purple tint that covers the windscreen.

"I bet Harry doesn't have to put up with this bullshit with Liam" he mutters detestably.

"Harry's a friend whore"

"So you say" the driver snorts dismissively.  
*****  
A few minutes later, Louis had once again perked up, asking Zayn about his thoughts on the script for the Naruto Shippuuden Live action movie that he had gotten in December. Tasuo Nanimoto had written a screenplay for a live action movie based on the Manga Naruto which he thought Zayn could play the role of an older Sasuke perfectly.

It wasn’t a matter of having the movie based solely around Japan actors with Tasuo, he wanted a diverse cast of people for his movie, once they had the will and passion to learn the Japanese lines and partake. When Zayn had first gotten the script he was with Liam who had talked about how cool it would be to do a Ninja film. Zayn had disagreed, claiming that it sounded tacky. Nevertheless they checked out the Anime rather than the Manga(because Liam thought black and white drawings were an invention by Satan). Zayn found the anime to be a little dragged but still pretty awesome (even though they had only watched 10 or so randomly chosen episodes). So he had decided to read the script. Then he got stumped.

"I liked that Sah-su-kay was an Avenger and all, but I don't think I could play someone so...emo. I-he...I dunno. I could hardly pronounce half the names"

Louis hummed at this. Who was Zayn trying to kid, he was totally cut out for any emo role out there.

"What’s the plot?"

"Oh. Well my character, Sassyman is with the badguy, CochRoachy-man-who and uh, oh Na-loo-toe and his team are out on a Mission or whatever when Asshole Ninja number one decides to attack them...the main thing is that I'm a complete douche bag in it and Na-loo-toe is trying to save me from becoming even more of a jerk because I have all this power and its driving me crazy with rage-Tomo the script was nothing like the Anime. Random fight scenes much. I'm way too old to be going around having emo- aneurysms" 

"That. sucks. Cochroachy-man-who? That’s his name? Seriously?" Louis scrunches up his nose in distaste.

"Fuck if I know"

"But the action. I'm sure the action was off the charts" The corner of Zayn's mouth twitches as he observes his friend.

"Are you a fan, Lou?"

"Of Naruto?" Zayn nods. "Nah. I do like a good ninja flick though. They’re so scarce these days"

"Well as far as I'm concerned, Tasou pulled this script outta his ass, wiped it off and give me the first draft. I'm telling you Louis, I could smell the shit on it, in it"

“Are you trying to make me lose my lunch?"

"How so?" Strangely enough Zayn finds himself pouting.

"You're so stubborn beyond the point of irony. You treat me like crap(Louis fakes a sniffle) you think its best that you ignore the man you love..."

"Hey. I'm not"

"You are downright moody these days not to mention sarcastic..."

"Shuddup. Somehow turning 25 years old seem so much closer, my movie went missing. I’m trying to keep that information from being leaked; they’re bribing and threatening every member of the fucking crew to shut up about it and crap, fuck. I have a reason to be grouchy"

"Don't be giving me the age speech. Besides you're gonna be spending your time on an exquisite Caribbean island with the man you love. Grouchy shouldn't be in your vocabulary at the moment"

Zayn has already considered this. Liam and he weren't going to be alone much but at least they be together again. Finally, outside the walls of his fortress of solitude he admits to himself that he's excited to be seeing Liam again. He gives Louis a knowing smile, who then turns his eyes away from the road momentarily to give Zayn one of his own.

"Don't fuck this up"

"Not this time, man"

¬_¬ 0_o x_x -_^ $_$ ._. ?_? :-P

"They're here! They're here! They're HEREEEE!!!!!"

"Who is that guy?" Liam asks Niall, who is sitting to the left of him.

"Dunno" is all Niall mumbles, not even looking up from his Iphone.

"I think its Zac Efron" Harry jokes, his eyes following the movement of the slim, wailing man outside their vehicle. Liam elbows him in the side smoothly, casually leaning over his friend in order to lower the window some more. The three are currently seated in the back of a Rolls Royce, having reached the airport a while ago and awaiting Zayn's arrival.

"It- dude it is Zac Efron" Liam blurts in astonishment as he now takes in the physical features of the younger man, who is currently running alongside a blue Bugatti. He's bearded and swaying a lot more than usual but Liam's definitely sure that it is Zac Efron.

"You're right." Harry has his head out the window, the side of his face practically cheek to cheek with Liam.

"Oh yeah! He played one of the army guys that accompanied Zayn on his way to the where the Omati-blue people live. He dies before they arrive though"

The memory finally comes to Liam, causing him to hit his head against the top of the window as he wonders just how could he possibly forget that Zac Efron had been a part of the cast. Speaking of cast...

"Where's Dylan?" he asks Harry, turning slightly but miscalculates the distance that their faces are from each other, resulting a bit of lip-to-cheek brushing. Harry pulls back a little, hitting his head at the side of the window while Liam jerks unprofessionally and hits his head against the top again.

"You two seem cozy" Zayn's warm, yet testy voice is suddenly in front of them, blocking the morning light with his tall frame and this time Liam's reaction leads to an even worse scenario as he bumps heads with Harry. The two pull out of the window at the same time but with very little recovery time Liam starts climbing over Harry again, reaching to open the door. Why did he sit in the middle!? Is what the screams to himself mentally, his long legs getting tangled with god knows who...

"Watch it!" Niall protests just as Liam's foot hits something. With what’s left of his dignity Liam manages to lower his hands unto the concrete and crawl out, dragging the rest of his body behind him.

He's pretty sure he heard Zayn mumble, "You always did look good, face down, ass up" and Liam bolts upright, his tall frame doing so as elegantly as possible. He'd had years of practice throwing his weight and height around easily, therefore he saw no reason why he couldn't do the same here. Dusting off his black tee, he is towered by the ½ inches of Zayn, just as he always is nowadays. The man in front of him looks different than the Zayn, Liam's grown accustom to.

That Zayn had had longer hair and a neatly trimmed bush that covered his lower face. Now he's clean shaven, dressed casually in loose jeans, a pink t-shirt that is covered by an army green jacket with the sleeves folded securely to reach his elbows, shorter dark hair slicked back expertly, observant brown eyes that sparkle a tad bit in the fresh sunlight, and he looks completely refreshed overall. It’s as if he had just left Liam briefly for a matter of minutes, returning with a glow that makes Liam fall for him all over again.

Liam slumps. So much for Zayn being depressed, pale and so strung up on him that when they met again he'd just fall right into Liam’s arms and let himself be whisked away in the comfort of Liam's love.   
He pouts.   
It’s not that he didn't want Zayn to be perfectly healthy and as stunning as he always is, but not without Liam.   
Not without Liam to wake him up in the morning with fresh brewed coffee and a kiss (especially when Zayn's morning breath kicked in), not without Liam to make him laugh in the most random of situations, not without Liam...never without Liam. But it seems as if that being without Liam was the way to go. Persons absent from Liam’s presence were looking brilliantly handsome, without Liam in his life, Zayn seemed relaxed, living without Liam...was the new black.

"Hi Zayn" Harry greets, his seated body visible to those outside now that the door had been pried open.

"Hey Harry. Niall?" Zayn peers at the red headed Irish man, who is crammed against the door beside him, looking at God knows what on his phone.

"Fucktard" is what Zayn hears in reply. Instead of narrowing his eyes like he originally intended to, he finds himself laughing shortly, the pitch of it almost nostalgic as if to say, 'Oh Niall. You haven't changed one bit'. Except the ridiculous red hair. 

"This is so not going the way I had hoped" Liam grumbles to himself while Zayn and Harry share a few awkward words. Harry's "So how are you?" being answered with a brief, "Fine".

Liam grunts uneasily. Was he the only one who was still suffering from their separation? Did Zayn not feel the need to recapture what they've had immediately? He wanted to throw his hands up in frustration and then ask to speak with Zayn in private, take him out somewhere private and kick his ass. After all these years, this is what it all boils down to...

"They're calling us" Zayn says, indicating to 6 well-dressed men and women, who were waving them over. Liam's eyes go to search Zayn's face, but the other man is mouthing something to the suit wearing persons, leaving Liam to take in the swell of his biceps as Zayn performs some sort of hand signal. He's unconsciously licking his lips by the time Zayn turns to face him.

"Tell everyone to get a move on" Zayn says. Harry is already out of the vehicle and moving toward the trunk, Liam's about to go collect his own luggage when Zayn grabs his wrist.

"Need some help?" The question is not one he's used to. Mostly Zayn just starts helping him anyway and Liam's not sure what to say. He notices Niall is helping Harry move the suitcases, their eyes meet as Liam shakes his head,

"No thanks. We'll meet you over there, okay?"

Zayn seems to pause as if he's not sure what to do next. 'Fine', Liam thinks. There is no way he's letting Zayn go without a pretty big fight. One of them was going to leave Mustique bruised because this was not ending pretty if Zayn keeps this facade up.

"ZAYN! ZAYN!" Zac Efron is waving at him and when he finally does get Zayn's attention, the boy points to 3 red suitcases that are lined up horizontally beside him. Louis moves into sight, pulling up the handle on one of the suitcase before miming to Zayn that he should come get his. Liam waits, sure enough that they'd make up right here and now and spend the rest of the time in Mustique together, having fun.

"Yeah. I'll see you on the plane" is all Zayn replies, his smile small and corny. Liam wants to scowl so painfully that it'll leave a deep imprint on his face, but forces a big smile instead, then turns away. If Zayn wants to play hard to get...back, then two could play that game.  
****  
So Gene hadn't shown up due to new projects he was trying out but it didn't seem to make a difference to Liam. If Levithian truly had 'Tavron' then both Chad and Yendal were ready to fire a law suit if he didn't turn it over to them immediately. He knew for fact that James had sent a trusted member of the crew to help them in securing the film. There was no way any of them were going to leave the island without that film in their possession...legally, of course. They had worked too hard on it. Zayn and him had...

"Sor, sorry if I" Zac Efron burps disgustingly, using his hand to cover his mouth to hold in another. This merely causes him to hiccup throatily, gagging just a little. Liam is pretty sure his own face is contorted in an undisguised grimace.

"Sorry if I'm acting, waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy..." Zac stops talking. Choosing instead to sway pathetically beside the taller man. Liam checks his watch. It's only 9:43. Why the hell was Zac Efron already drunk? They hadn't even left the country yet.

"ZAYN!!!!!!!! ZAYN!!!!!!!! ZAYN!!!!!!!! ZAYN!!!!!! ZAYN!!..." A large crowd of adoring fans and media is currently being held off by 20 buff security guards but it doesn't stop them from yelling for the attention of their favorite star. Liam watches Zayn and Louis. The two are engaged in conversation, but that’s not what’s getting Liam ticked off. It’s the fact that they decide to do it in the open where just about every photographer, fan or camera can capture their presence. Like Zayn and Louis, Harry, Tom Welling and Niall are out in the public eye but instead of just standing around talking to each other, they're signing autographs and giving out hugs.  
Liam, along with everyone else is standing within an open hangar waiting for the private jet to be ready for boarding. Everyone’s luggage was still being loaded and it would possibly take another 10 minutes to situate them properly for the flight. Because according to Megan Fox (who played a lusty creature from another tribe) "I do not want my panties or jewelry getting fucking thrown about the plane because someone didn't have courtesy to put my suitcases in properly"

To which Liam had responded, because he found her attitude very snotty, "You should've packed em in spacebags. That way they'll stay safe even if we crash"

The jet itself belonged to Levithian but Liam was seriously considering buying his own pretty soon, these things had their advantages. He had researched Mustique and the island seemed like a paradise just waiting for him to experience what it had to offer. Having a jet at his and Zayn's beck and call would prove sufficient if they ever felt the need to run off unexpectedly. That is...if there still was a ‘him and Zayn’.

"Ooo! Ones got Niall" Harry says, pointing out toward the crowd.  
Liam looks past Zac Efron to where Niall had last been and finds the red head is tugging himself out of the grip that a small brunette with pig tails has him in.

"Is he serious? She's like 6!" Liam responds, looking on in disbelief.

"Somebody spiked my water" a slurry voice comes from beside him. Liam doesn't turn to face the other boy immediately but is distracted when an open Evian bottle is held out to dangle in front of his face. His nose scrunches up on reflex. The stench of rum is dead set coming off the bottle in thick fumes.

"I miss my dogs" Zac moans throatily.   
******  
"He's watching over here" Zayn tells Louis after checking on Liam via the corner of his eye. 

"I've lost you, haven't I?" Zayn questions dryly. Louis's glazed eyes snap back to his friend, a realization falling into them as he drops his hand.

"Zayn! This is boring. Just go talk to him" Zayn cringes. Louis's whine is almost as scary as his Cheshire grin. The former member sounds pathetic and had his hands fisted in the air, swinging them back and forth on either side of his face in an annoying rhythm that appeared not only childish but ridiculously horrifying. Brown eyes flicked from side to side, scanning the area for any attention they might've gathered.

Unfortunately for him and Louis, the crowd seemed to have quieted down, watching on curiously. He shivers just a little when he meets Liam's inquiring eyes as the other man steps further out of the hangar's shadow. Zayn ignores Louis, who has just huffed dismissively at him, stalking off toward the jet.   
Liam strolls nonchalantly into the open, the crowd going crazy as soon as he's in sight but the two men only continue holding each other's gaze. Liam doesn't bring his carry-on with him, however he knows Yendal will probably get someone to bring it on the plane for him. For now, all he sees is Zayn and its making all sorts of thoughts run back and forth through his mind. 'He looks, really, really good' is what most of his subconscious is relating back to him.

"LIAM! ZAYN! ZIAM, OHMYGODZIAM, I LOVE YOU!!!!!" is the only warning Zayn hears before he is forced to watch as Liam is leapt upon by a slim, mature, blonde woman who begins to scream for joy as soon as her legs wrap around his boyfriend. Liam's hands go to her waist in an attempt to pry her off; her right arm goes around his neck, pulling his face roughly into her bosom. Zayn is already running toward them when she waves to her friends in crowd, proclaiming loudly "LIAM- KISSED MY BREAST!!!"

Zayn hooks an arm around Liam's waist, keeping him steady as the woman is hauled off non-to-ladylike by two of the tanned bodyguards. At first she refuses to release him, clinging to the front of his shirt tightly and Liam mildly wonders what kind of superpowers do tiny, clingy fangirls have that they suddenly become super strong after getting hold of their favorite stars.

Then Liam gives her a cheesy grin, his tousled appearance combined with the smile proves to be too much for her as she weakly collapses in raspy breaths and tears in the bodyguards’ arms. She's being carried away fireman-style but it doesn't stop her from holding out a hand to Liam, trying once more to reach him. Zayn feels like busting a James Bond move on her but settles on tightening his hold on Liam's waist, liking the warmth of Liam's back against his chest. 'He smells just like I remembered. Like honey nut cheerios'

"This position requires dinner first" Liam pokes fun at the man behind him, purposely bending his head backwards so that his hair flicked messily in Zayn's face.  
Zayn's grip loosens but Liam doesn't move away immediately,

"I should know. I've seen and paid every bill for those dinners too"  
Liam snorts,

"And it’s my fault?"

It’s only when he discovers that camera flashes are going off like fireworks that he decides to move to Zayn's side.

"So, we're, er, back to normal... just like that?" Liam questions out of the corner of his mouth, a long arm waving happily at the crowd.

"Are we?" Zayn returns, even though the bright, cheerful grin that he is presenting is directed toward the cameras. Liam turns his head toward Zayn, looking as if he had something to say but is interrupted by,

"All passengers for the flight to Mustique please board now. Thank you!" a loud, nasally voice trumpets through the airport speakers. Two well-dressed members of the flight staff approach the couple and direct them to the jet's extended stairs. Niall and Zac race toward the stairs, laughing foolishly as they try to beat each other to it. Zayn pulls Liam in front of him, giving the two buffoons the space on the right so that they could continue their fun.

"No fair! Liam's arm was in my way" Zac Efron protests, chasing after Niall who had made it onto the plane first. Zayn is vividly aware of the rest of the crew and cast heading toward the stairs and gives Liam a little push, indicating for him to move a little faster. Liam complies silently, his sturdy legs taking the stairs 2 at a time. In no time at all he's on the plane leaving Zayn to climb, well it looks more like he’s modeling, the last 3 stairs by himself. Inside stinks of money.

Zayn swears appreciatively under his breath as he studies the small, gold chandelier in the back of the jet which lights sparkle like diamonds above a cozy looking lounge area. To the front, he spots a wicked alignment of over 40 or so seats that look so comfortable; his eyes were getting sleepy just from watching them. They all were a rich peach colored silk and as he got closer he saw that they each had an extendable tray in front of them. The antique carpet that covered the aisle divided the set of seats evenly. Basically there were two columns consisting of 20 chairs each with 10 rows of two partnered seats.

Niall occupied one to the front, his head already lulled in tiredness. Moving past Niall, his eyes took in the small, black television screens that were built into the back of every seat. Therefore from the back row upwards the persons sitting behind had their own personal video screen for their viewing pleasure. The four seats at the front however weren't fortunate enough to have their own private video display unit but Zayn was sure they wouldn't be disappointed seeing as there was a large, theatre system plasma TV attached securely to a high level of extension from the plane and strategically placed for their viewing pleasure. They'd all have to share of course, but they'd have all the surround sound they needed. He finally noticed a pair of DJ headphones that were hung neatly on the back of every seat. It was even better to see that they were all cordless and rather expensive looking.

He had his own set of cordless headphones for his Ipad. He had brought one for Liam also, the two taking the opportunity to create silly playlists for each other. Liam would go into their home studio and record himself saying the hottest, yet corniest of things, placing them into a playlist called 'Oral'. In which Zayn had had to change to 'Liam playlist5'; because several inquisitive persons (including Louis) had a thing for raiding through his stuff whenever they saw his things lying about.

The Ipad apparently had a password security setting that he could use to keep intruders from accessing personal files, but after the 'I-locked-myself-out-of-my-phone' accident in March 2013, he had opted not to try anything to technical ever again.

"He's in the lounge" Dylan’s soft, amicable voice whispers into his ear, the man giving Zayn a light pat on the shoulder. Shivering ever so slightly, Zayn nods. Things had been almost close to perfect when he had been able to wrap his arms around Liam again, settling immediately back into their comfort zones with each other. Zayn was hoping now, even more, that the circumstances between them can be resolved quickly. It was a petty argument and for the entire world around him he couldn't see why it was keeping them apart.

Sighing, he begins moving toward the lounge, passing a droopy Zac, who is clinging to the neck of one of the attendants. He walks faster, the rest of the crew entering at a tremendous pace. Arriving at the lounge, Zayn notices that it's only him and Liam.

The other man is spread out in a very unsexy way that made him look all the more seductive. If anyone had to take the position Liam was in for what it is, all they would be seeing is a large man lying on his back while occupying two of the lounge's large white sofas, his left leg thrown ridiculous high over the back of the second chair and the other leg bent at the knee lying on the chair, the back and forth movement of his ankle causing his white sock covered foot to nuzzle itself against the material. It could be compared to that of a dog relaxing.

But to Zayn, he saw things within the image presented that stood out generously to him. Liam always liked to keep his one of his legs stretched because it made for a more comfortable position for him. Zayn was sure he would be extending the other leg soon enough. He let his eyes drift past the exposed tanned flesh of Liam's lower abdomen, thinking that if he took the time to analyze it too closely it might lead to extensive fantasizing and from the rubbing Liam’s foot was doing against the couch Zayn was certain that the other man was merely having a thoughtful moment rather than on his way into a nap. Not wanting to get caught standing there by Liam whenever he decides to open his eyes, Zayn moves forward.

Harry bolts past Zayn, "Liam, have you checked this place out?" His excitement is so stink on the air that Zayn is able to take a whiff of it as he rushes by. Sometimes Harry really disappoints him. The golden highlighted strands in Harry’s brown hair flop about magically as plops his ass down on the couch near Liam's couch-nuzzling foot. The sock covered foot stops all movement.

"Zayn! Didn't see you there, buddy. Have you checked this plane out?"

When Harry said this, Zayn had been in the middle of gushing over how incredibly sexy Liam made opening one’s eyes look. Wow, he hadn't been treated to that look in what seemed like forever and seeing it now was like witnessing something spectacular all over again, especially when said eyes were such a golden hazel in the fluorescent lights casted over the area by the chandelier. Those same hazel eyes swiveled in Zayn's direction when Harry mentioned his presence.

The two hold each other’s gaze for a minute, almost challenging to see which one would look away first. Zayn knows he’s not going to back down but is interrupted when he catches Harry staring at him through the corner of his eye. The words 'Get out' are on the tip of his tongue but he chooses to be polite and instead says,

"Get out please"

Harry's eyes widen, an expression that spoke volumes of a high-pitched diva-ish 'Excuse me?' forming on his face. Zayn thought the other man was about to snap his fingers with attitude, however, Liam, who had finally sat up, said,

"It’s okay, Harry" Zayn glowers, looking on hatefully as Liam pats Harry's leg reassuringly. He's planning the Harry’s firstborn’s funeral when Liam glances up and their eyes met again by chance, sheer determination shining in his now dark brown eyes.

"We have very important matters to discuss" The words lack Liam's teasing tone and Zayn immediately straightens. Something tells him that this conversation was going to require four walls and possible security.

They remain in the Lounge as the attendants make sure everyone is seated for takeoff, informing them on the whereabouts of certain recreational and relaxation areas on the aircraft. When Zayn hears the word small ‘Jacuzzi’ he finds himself bouncing his knee, eager for him and Liam to get this talk over with so that they could get first dibs.

Liam indicates to Zayn that they'd move to the back where the bedrooms were when they've reached a steady height. While he waits, Zayn entertains himself by picking at the couch's material and listening to Niall and Zac loudly discussig the latest the film Mulan intensely. Apparently the film had all the workings for homoerotic subtext. There wasn’t enough turbulence to shut them up.

Liam tries to engage him in conversation with Harry but Zayn finds that he's so much on edge by their pending private conversation and civilly declines. He's about to shift into a more relaxed position to throw off any of Liam’s suspicion about his nervousness when the intercom beeps and the attendant is announcing that they're allowed to move around. Zayn is on his feet in no time, his eagerness personified even further when he hurriedly waves to Liam to follow. He can't help it. The fucking anxieties are killing him. He wants his boyfriend back and in his arms and the sooner they clear the air the better. Too bad things always seemed to be so much easier in his head.  
*****  
The silence in the room is deafening. Zayn's going mad, his eardrums ringing for any sign of sound that it can grab on to. They are currently in Liam's small but luxurious on-flight suite. His palms are sweaty, his throat feels a tad parched and he's eyeing the bed a little too much for comfort. Good God, a month without sex and here he is in a room, alone with Liam and all he can do is signal the bed with his eyes for an upcoming fuck. Physically shaking off the weight of his fretfulness, Zayn clears his throat, although they've only been in the room less than 5 minutes, the air is thick with rigidity. It’s not supposed to be though; he doesn't like it when it’s like this.

Like they're withholding something that truly matters greatly and it’s just causing way too much friction than it should between them. What would Onigami Sensei do?

"D-does, does you're refusal to marry me… have something to do with my Christian background? You're gay and totally in love with me as you say, but don't think we're...'perfect' enough to get married in the eyes of God?" Liam asks, breaking the silence with his soft voice. His new floppy bangs falling into his eyes as he looks at Zayn with worried eyes.

Stunned, Zayn immediately begins to object, 

"What? No.” he scoffs in disbelief that Liam would even consider religion a barrier for them at this point in time. “No. No, I, I just think..." Zayn has to stop or he'll choke. Shaking his head, he cusses himself under his breath. He's supposed to be explaining this properly but instead he's letting the tension freeze his nerves and block out coherent thought.

"Wow, uh, Liam, you ‘ve got to know how nerve wracking this is for me. I mean, we've never been in a situation like this where, where we just don't seem to connect-and...and its driving me crazy because you're acting as if, as if you don't know how much I love you, as if you don't see what I've put up with for you all these years"

"Put up with? Is that what you call it? Putting up with me? Well..."

"No! Stop jumping to conclusions! I didn't mean it like that. You're being way selfish and just throwing me off course of what I really want to say and, and God! I didn't want to have it to come to this-"

"Come to what? Breaking up?"

"What? No, fuck no! We're not breaking up over this Liam, I'll be fucked sideways by that plasma TV before I let you walk away from this with the way things are"

"Cause that’s what you do right? You put up with me. With me and all my selfish ways because I'm the bad one. But you know what? I don't think I want to marry you if you're only going to say yes because you can bear my presence simply because you put up with me"

"OH COME ON! I've done everything in my strength to make you happy you know why, because I love you. I love you most when you're smiling and I feel so fucking loved that I'm closed to tears because I know you're smiling because of me, because of how I make you feel. And I only called you selfish because you're once again attempting to force something on me and because I didn't roll over like a good boy and say yes this time you start accusing me...and, and I just thought, that you would understand and respect-"

A choked sob causes Zayn to break off. It doesn't come from him but it’s all the more hurtful to look at Liam and see teary eyes, a fat teardrop running over his upper lip. Zayn can feel his own unshed tears burning at the corners of his eyes.

"I don't want to be an obligation anymore Zayn. Just because we’re down to two doesn’t mean you get to stick around for poor old Liam! I don't need y-you to do things for me because you think of me as some sort of chore"

"What the hell? Have I ever said anything about being ‘obligated’ to be with you? The company didn’t make me sign any contracts in order for me to become intimate with you. Are you seriously hearing yourself? I’m not the one who’s having an issue here, if you would listen to me and stop throwing these accusations, like, like you think I’m going to run off?” all his jumbled thoughts were pushing themselves to the surface and suddenly he couldn’t stop talking, “Is this why you’re trying to get me to marry you? Because you’re scared I’d pull out of this relationship half way through? Do you lack that much faith in me, in us?”

Liam looked as if the other man had just slapped him. “The fuck? I’m not trying to lock you down ball and chain here just because you think I’m some lonely pathetic imp and need a companion. And you what, fuck, just fuck you”  
Zayn is gaping at him. The word 'no' being the only thing he can find in his vocal dictionary.

"No, I didn't..."

“What Zayn? Take the floor because apparently I don’t listen”

Zay shook his head, “Look, I’m sorry, gosh…” he scratches the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed as he recalls his previous statements, “Wow, I probably sounded like quite an ass and I’m sorry. This, our relationship-“  
"Just" Liam raises a hand, palm facing Zayn, "Stop"

The older man presses a hand to his forehead, pinching at his temple with a screwed up face and Zayn knows this as a clear sign of Liam getting the beginning of a minor headache. His eyes instantly go to the bathroom and without saying anything he trudges toward the small room, coming back with an outstretched palm bearing 2 Advils and the other holding a tiny, plastic cup, one of many that were available in the medicine cabinet. Liam accepts them quietly, falling backwards to sit on the bed.

"I think, I think I need to think" Liam says briefly after taking the pills. Zayn is unable to withhold a small smile because Liam just sounds so adorable when he's having trouble gathering his thoughts. He doesn't know he's moving to hug Liam until the seated man once again indicates to him to pause his movements.

"I'vebeenarealjerk" Liam mumbles dazedly. Zayn can see the recollection of past events within his eyes, giving him a very faraway look. Cupping Liam's chin Zayn turns his head until those eyes focus in on his face. Zayn feels a rupturing thunder of confidence fill him and nods mentally, knowing what he had to do.

"Liam Payne, I have..."  
Holding up his palm, Liam stops Zayn, lips quirking into an almost teasing smile.  
"Save it babe. You don't have to propose to make me feel better. Don't do it, please. Don't make me come between you and your own morals Zayn. I want to be able to understand you're reasoning and I want you to tell me when I've pushed you too far with my suggestions. I can be..."

Zayn blinks shyly. He wasn't about to propose, he was...about to recite his feelings in a lovingly, somewhat haiku of affections.

"Hey, hey. You're acting as if you forced me into this or something. I did everything with you out of my own freewill and it only brought me closer to you. From our little vacation trips, to the films and stage performances all of them were unique to me because I was sharing them solely with you. I... uh, looking back on the decisions now I think I fell more in love with you every time I came out of my comfort zone to perform them with you. As for the random vacation trips, they weren't all bad"

"Hiking in Haiwaii?"

Zayn looks pensive and shivers at the memory.

"Yeah, yeah that had been bad"

Liam smiles at his admittance and Zayn sees his opportunity to pull his boyfriend closer.

"I want this trip in Mustique to be about us. About a new sense of depth within our relationship and I want you to be ready to call me out on my shit" Zayn's face betrays his doubts about the last part of the statement but fortunately Liam catches the look and says warningly,

"Zayn, please, I want us to be straightforward and I know I jump to the wrong conclusions sometimes and- "  
The slightly taller man leans in for a kiss, hoping to seal the good turn of events with something intimate. Liam gives him a nice peak on the lips before easing back onto the bed. Zayn goes to follow but is stopped. He wants to cry out in protest, but then manages to hold it in.

"Not today. I'm tired and I'm saving all this" Liam points to his body, "For the clean sand of a beach in Mustique. Besides, I really need to think things over. I mean, I just realized I haven’t been the best supportive boyfriend that I know I could be, that I know you deserve"  
Zayn shrugs,

"Well it's never been a big problem-"

"Not for you, but for me to find out all this out now and recall instances where you seemed uncomfortable with my ideas but yet gave in eventually, it all ties in and I feel like such a douche! ARGH!" Liam falls back onto his back, realizing that his head was way too close to the head of the bed and still his feet were hanging off.

"And my bed is a midget too." he whines pathetically. He is hating Harry all of the sudden for suggesting that Zayn had not been willing to commit to him enough when in fact that had been all Zayn had been doing.

"Harry was so wrong about you. Can't believe I left. Fuck, this whole break up was my fault. I couldn't see past my ungrateful wall and listen to your pleading"

"I wasn't pleading"

"...your begging..."

"That’s harsh. I was merely trying to reason with you"

"...listen to your reasoning. Whatever. I was still an ass. I'm a terrible friend for not noticing, and a terrible boyfriend for not sensing it immediately, and I'll make a terrible husband"

"NO! Now that’s just going beyond-no, out of the question, you’ll make an exceptional husband, if not a good trophy wife”  
Liam sits with his back against the head of the bed, kicking Zayn’s thigh playful for the ‘wife’ comment.

"Save the poetry and serenades for when I'm not feeling sorry for myself for the way that I've treated you. I'll appreciate them all the more then. I love you so much Zayn and I don't want my...ways, to get between us ever again. Now, I need you to leave, for I am about to sulk and would rather not let you see me tear into myself for not loving you the way that I should've"

"Now that’s just crazy..."

"Please, please, please"

"Liam." Zayn's voice is firm and gives no sign of backing down.

"The bed's too small anyway" Liam finally sighs pitifully.

"Never stopped us before"

Liam moans angrily, dropping his upper body sideways so that his head would hit the pillow under his left arm.

"What’s the matter?"

"Trailer sex back when we were filming Supernatural Sighting. I probably lured you into those with my self-centered persuasions too." Liam drew a shuddering breath, eyes glassy.

Gaping dramatically, Zayn is quick to say,

"Nope. You did that by having a nice chest, perky nipples, a wicked dick and a rocking ass. 'sides I had a thing for trailer sex with you. Still do"

Liam scowls, his eyes blank and yearning, staring at the wrinkles his clenched hand is impacting on the sheets.  
"But I remember occasions where you were against it and put up a strong refusal when it came to going through with them on many instances before we came out and I had just clawed into you until you gave in. Fucking hell I’m such a-selfish prick" he's back to moaning pitifully and Zayn finds that he doesn't appreciative the sound. His Liam was not supposed to be making such depressed groans.

"You're prick may be a lot of things, but it ain't selfish Liam"

"Stop cracking jokes and go to your room, please. I'll see you in the morning" Liam attempts to stretch off on the firm mattress, a small smile ghosting his lips.

"We'll be landing in a couple of hours" Zayn states practically.

"Then I'll see you after Jetlag" Groaning, Liam falls onto his side, his back to Zayn as he curls into the fetal position. All he wants to do now is think. He'd been so caught up in his own web of self-centered lies the past month that he's failed to see things from Zayn's point of view. And Harry, he had just added fuel to the fire, with his so called 'advice'. Oh, Liam was going to rip him a new one when he felt better. However Harry had contributed possible solutions, it hadn't been entirely his fault. The shorter man had just been playing the role of supportive best friend.

Liam needed to get a major priority check before he lost everything he held dear to him. He knew Zayn was willing to forgive him and allow them to move on with their lives together but Liam felt like he was getting handed the easy way out. And he’s apparently been getting the easy way out with Zayn for a long time now and it’s not as pleasurable as he had thought. He felt…evil, an egotistical prick who abused his boyfriend’s love and adoration to get what he wanted.

Zayn finally gives up, deciding that giving Liam come space might just do the trick. He's at the door after walking at a deathly slow pace, stopping again to look back to Liam's semi curled form on the bed. Making his way backwards he sits beside Liam’s head, his hands automatically reaching out to stroke the proverbial soft threads of hair.

"We're good then?"

Liam rolls onto his back, blinking up into the lights above the bed momentarily, angling his head upward so that he could wink at his boyfriend.

"We have to be. I wouldn't want you to leak our sex tape to the public, right?"  
*****

The sex tape which they had made in Jamaica that one time they went for a mini vacation of sorts. Oh yes, he definitely still had that. Zayn had still been thinking all about it when he had entered his own temporary room. He has been in his room almost the entire trip, visiting Liam again approximately 10 minutes after he had left the other man's room.

Liam had been sleeping, the room dark and Zayn only managed to make out the older man’s form on the bed from the soft light the open door allowed in. Going back to his room he had tried to sleep but found himself unsettled by his enthusiasm. Now that he and Liam were back together he felt utterly giddy and a new plan quickly formulated itself. His room had a petite plasma TV, just like Liam's and the room itself was about the same in size, bed included, but there wasn't anything worth occupying his time for more than a few minutes of mere curiosity. However, in the midst of boredom, a thought struck him.

He had packed it. Hadn't he? This question sparked his search through the suitcase he had bought. He remembered packing it for the sake of optical jerk-off material, along with a few of his favorite DVDs and his laptop just for entertainment purposes.  
Ah Ha!

 

His bedroom door burst open, the arguing pair of Niall and Zac Efron stalked in, Niall declaring that, "Naruto could totally take Superman. What the fuck is the matter with you? I mean, sure the Kent has powers but Naruto has the nine tails fox and that macho man look is all Superman is about? Give my Naruto enough rage to fuel his fire and BAM! he'd knock Kent right back to Krypton"

Zac's skeptical eyebrow rose til it was being hidden by his long bangs.

"No way. And if we're t-talking about Naruto's 'nine tails' for instance that doesn't count because 1.) That fucking fox will probably kill Naruto first; and 2.) Naruto really should stick to morphing into females; it’s his only good quality"  
"Whatever. Tom already said he thinks Naruto can kick Superman's ass and he used to play Superman on TV! So there, ha!”  
Zayn rises from his knees, the DVD case clutched in his left hand, brown eyes twitching with irritation as he surveys the still debating pair.

"Why are they in here?" he questions, his head tilted back so that his eyes faced the roof, his question directed toward the heavens.

"Zayn, Zayn. Tell 'im Superman is way stronger than Naruto" Zac, who is clearly still a tad bit inebriated, demands. The kid has a thing for echoing Zayn's name unnecessarily and Zayn's not sure whether to blame it on the alcohol because he recalls the younger man doing the same thing while on set for Tavron at which time he was completely sober. Weren’t these two idiots falling to sleep just a half hour ago?

"Why is it so important, anyway?"

Niall and Zac blink at him with wide, unseeing eyes that reveal just how vacuous their minds were.

"What’s your point?" Niall inquires suspiciously; he folds his arms across his chest, looking rather defensive.

"Are you drunk?"

"Do I smell drunk?" Zac scoffs; he has the audacity to look insulted, rolling his eyes around the room, and then huffing in annoyance. Niall watches his friend for a second before mimicking his movements. The two appear ridiculous, their clothes scruffy and faces strained from both exhaustion and too much red bull. It’s as if they're stuck in a cross between being too tired but at the same time having too much energy to settle down. Before Zayn could retort to Zac Efron's question, he is made aware of the way Zac Efron's eyes narrow on the DVD case.

"'Our sex tape?" the younger man reads amusedly. He transfers his eyes from the DVD's bold label to Zayn, his grin wide and knowing, "Dude. How obvious can you get?"

Zayn opens his mouth to reply but only manages a stutter when Niall's red bull-speed allows him to snatch the case away easily. The tallest man makes a move to grab it but Niall dashes backwards.

"Fuck yeah. Finally, it’s on DVD!"

"Niall! Quit being an ass, you, you ass" Zayn's grabby fingers launch themselves at the other man, this time Zayn puts himself into action, ready to chase Niall if he makes a run for it. Predictable as ever, Niall does and Zayn is close behind. Before a rather cliché reaction takes place where Niall throws the item to Zac over Zayn's head, the ONE DIRECTION member tackles him. They land uncomfortably on the bed.

"Zac! Catch-ACK!" Zayn bites him, right on his chin. Niall pushes him away, wiping at his bruised flesh, his voice squeaky as he protests against Zayn's behavior, going as far to call the othe man's actions childish. DVD safe in his hands Zayn just shrugs. It would just be a waste of breath scolding Niall. Rising from the bed a sudden thought snaps at him. Zayn looks at the DVD in his hands then to Niall,

"You do know you were excited about getting to watch sex between me and Liam right?"

Niall sits up still rubbing at his chin, his mouth is scowled angrily and once again he's scoffing at Zayn is a manner that says 'Ah well Duh!'

"Porn is porn, is what I say. Besides. It'd be cool to see which one you bottom. I mean, I already have my suspicions about it being Liam but..."

"Niall!" both turn to look at Zac whose face reveals a disreputable expression. "Everyone knows Zayn bottoms" He says it so matter-of-factly that even a Jury might've believed.  
Zayn chokes, the tip of his ears burning uncontrollable. He really needed to avoid these two while on the island. Not only that but he was really fucking fed up of people trying to figure out who bottoms and who tops. It’s not their business! God. But he couldn't stop persons from asking or from insinuating their own opinions, what he could do was avoid and ignore such people.

"No fucking way man. I know my boy Liam and he screams 'girl'"

"Fuck that. Liam's all Johnny Bravo looking and, and Zayn's got that...uh, DSL thing going on, and, plus he's pretty"

"So are you! And you said this morning that Liam had like a B-cup chest. All better to squeeze, and his hair looks good for tugging now. Besides he’s lost that entire frame and is slimmer and curved with them shimmying hips…" Niall makes a raunchy display of fondling his chest while working some kind of jacked up belly dance.

Zayn flops back onto the bed, the energy going out of him, he's suddenly very exhausted. He has a zero tolerance for uninformative ranting and right now, Niall and Zac Efron were racking up a good negative 16 on that scale. Fortunately he doesn't have to request that the two lunatics leave because he hears Niall proclaim,

"Let’s get a third person" and for a moment he curses thinking that Niall meant him, but the other man continues, saying, “Dylan!"  
"But I wanted to ask Jensen!"

The bedroom door is closed, their voices growing distant behind it. Zayn had wanted to watch a little of the DVD in private, just for arousal's sake but Niall and Zac proved to be the grim reaper of all things horny. Who would've guessed that he would turn down a chance to masturbate on the account of having a headache?

“What the fuck is a Naruto!” Jensen’s disembodied voice shoots through the air. Zayn rolls onto his stomach, groaning into the pillow.  
**********  
When the plane lands its 4:15, Zayn had been awake for about 25 minutes before the flight attendant requested they buckle up for landing. Liam had made an appearance but chose to sit up front near a sleeping Niall, passing Zayn who had taken a seat in the back near Jensen.

The Texas actorproved to be excellent pass-time conversation, his accent sounded thick and creamy and if Zayn was into guys other than Liam he’d totally be into Jensen Ackles just for the sake of listening to him talk. His tone of voice seemed to make everything sound interesting. Zayn was surprised that they'd spent the majority of their conversation talking about the actual weather.

Then Liam had passed, completely ignoring him causing Zayn to pause, watching the supple sway of narrow hips with a perplexed expression. Jensen had already agreed to sit near Niall if Liam arrived, allowing the couple to sit together BUT Liam hadn’t even said anything to Zayn when he has passed by. This stirred Jensen's interest in their well-being, leaving Zayn to brush it off as Liam being cranky after he woke up.

Shrek 2 could be heard vaguely through the headphones around his neck, the small screen in front him displaying the animation for his viewing pleasure but all was ignored, including Jensen's seducing voice. His thoughts launched into overdrive at Liam's sudden change in attitude. He had thought things would be okay after their time together. 'Why didn't I stay!' he cussed himself mentally, his right hand scrubbing through his cut hair.

The jet was now in the airport but Zayn was still in his seat, the sound of the other occupants trudging pass him seemed to lessen in volume in compassion to the ramblings going through his head. Eventually Lee had started to ease past him and it was the clumsy brushing of their feet that brought Zayn into reality. He excused the other man, standing in the row momentarily just staring at the last set of crew as they exited. Liam was gone already.

"You coming Zayn?" a stout, Asian member of the crew asked politely, shifting a large carry-on bag from one shoulder to the next, waiting with a smile for Zayn's reply.

Nodding, Zayn's face is set in a displeased glower. He wants to grunt in frustration but holds it in. Grabbing his small carry-on suitcase that he had placed in the overhead compartment after he had exited his room, he trotted down the stairs, the bright afternoon sun of the island hitting his uncovered face directly. Leaving the air conditioned plane and entering into the warm, fresh air outside comes as a wake-up call to Zayn. The new atmosphere appears harsh at first, his eyes sting from the heat while his skin attempts to adjust to the temperature change.

"Liam, stop practicing you're slow motion entrance. Everyone's already heading toward the planes!"

Broken out of his stupor by Louis's yelling Zayn hops down the final set of stairs, eyes forward, his brown orbs take in the sight of everyone trudging forward excitedly toward 4 small planes on the other side of the runway. Continuing his viewing of the sights, Zayn smiles warmly as he examines the rich blue skies, tangy afternoon sunlight and deeply inhales warm air. The airport itself was rather small in comparison to many of the others he had seen. The one in Jamaica was clearly much larger but this one seemed to be a lot flashier. It was painted in the island's national flag color.

He had seen it on the internet and had to admit that he would've liked to remain on Saint Vincent a little longer just to check out the highlights of the island for himself. From what he had read on the net, Mustique was the only private grenadine island and from Louis he had learned that it could only be assessed by persons with permission or authorized personnel especially if they were from the mainland, St. Vincent. Zayn remembered jokingly wondering if this place was some sort of rip-off of Area 51. Was Levithian bringing them here, to some luxurious island, to off them?

"You may take your carry-on luggage on board but the heavier items will be delivered via the ferry" a woman dressed in a blue, scratchy looking jacket with a matching, professional short skirt said. Her nametag read 'Kai Anna Lewis'. She was beautifully voluptuous, about 5'7, short, brown hair combed neatly in a bun, mocha skin, curious brown eyes and a casual smile. Zayn assumed she was young, about 24 but the way she carried herself in terms of posture and politeness made her appear a lot more mature. He had originally thought the Saint Vincentian accent would've been as elaborate as that of Jamaica or Barbados (Jensen’s teenage sister enjoyed Rihanna’s music and forces them to listen to her from time to time) but judging by the way Kai Anna spoke she sounded more like an American who'd spent some time in England and came back with a joint accent of the two. His inquisitive mind got the best of him and he asked, "Are you a Saint Vincentian?"   
Kai Anna didn't summon eye contact with him as she spoke but told the answer generally,

"You can simply say Vincentian, Zayn, and to answer your question, Yes, I am. My name is Kai Anna and I'm going to be your tour guide around Mustique. Uh, the flights are being prepped but one of my associates is currently retrieving a large order of KFC, pizza hut and other recreational snacks for your pleasure seeing as Mustique does not have any fast-food places"

"Are these, I mean, the food, travelling on the ferry too?" Harry spoke up, he didn’t even bother to try to say it in English but thankfully Kai Anna seemed to be well trained to interact with them in their native tongue.

"No, no. The ferry takes about 2 hours to get to the island; it all depends but it’s still a long wait so the KFC and other fast-food will be travelling on a plane also"  
Zayn asks,  
"How long does the flight take?"  
Kai Anna's eyes startle him, for in that moment she looks way too excited, like a giddy fan girl who had finally spotted their targeted celebrity, but as soon as the expression appeared it was folded into a small, pleasant smile,

"About 5-7 minutes. The other suitcases would be way too heavy for them to carry and we'd rather not take any unnecessary risks. There are speed boats available but as I said before, the risk of losing bags or getting them wet is preventable if they are taken by the ferry"

At this Megan finally realized that she'd be without her precious suitcases for a long period of time and began to protest arrogantly. From the way she was behaving Zayn saw that Kai Anna had taken a step back, her face looking a little pinched. Rolling his eyes Zayn was about speak up but was beaten to the punch by Lee's irritated voice. When Megan flipped him off, throwing in a skanky 'fuck off', Yendal was already stepping in front of her, thin face strung so tight with annoyance that Zayn could make out every muscle tissue that covered her facial bones.

Yendal was a tall, slender woman with no curves, creaseless, dull colored suits and a black ponytail so tight that you could've pretended to tug at it and haul her skullcap off. And yet, although she looked too grumpy to be a model, she had always frightened and fascinated him in some way. Sometimes she could just be a tad too tense, always busy and a concentrated scowl was present whenever she wasn't. Her pale blue eyes always scanning something, bony fingers clutched around a very sophisticated looking organizer or the latest palm accessory, fiddling with the touch screen, searching, analyzing and she was the complete opposite of Chad who went with the more subtle ‘plan one day at a time’ routine. Liam had told him that Yendal was just super into her job but Zayn thought she needed a good over the table fucking. Sigh* He missed having those with Liam.

Turning to Kai Anna he asked,

"How long before the KFC gets here?"

The Vincentian, who had been watching the bickering going on among Yendal, Megan and one of the males from the media, turned bodily to face him. Smile still intact, however creepy it appeared to him could just have been his imagination, she checked her watch.

"I would say in about 15 minutes or so, depending on the traffic, do you want..."

"Thanks" and he was off before the last she could finish.

He needed to find Liam. Harry was currently in a conversation with Niall, but Zayn wasn't too much concerned with what they were discussing and shifted his gaze. Next he spotted Zac Efron, Lee, Nichkhun and a scowling Megan standing under the wing of the parked plane nearest them. Zac Efron looked to be the only one actually enjoying himself, talking animatedly with a stupid smile aimed at Nichkhun, while the taller man was playing his handheld Xbox nodding every 10 seconds or so just to show Zac Efron that he was very interested in what he was saying.  
Lee seemed out of place, being shorter than both Zac Efron and Nichkhun, an inch or so taller than Megan he appeared to be listening closely to Megan complain, appearing very engrossed in her petite form but Zayn knew from working with her on set that not even Lee's convincingly delicious voice was about to get him into Megan's pants, neither would it save him from Megan's sarcastic tongue or trashy red lips spitting venom at whoever had soiled her mood.

He shakes his head in annoyance as he studies Megan, black long hair lifting smoothly in the soft wind, pouty lips consistently returning to their cute purse whenever she paused in her ranting, thin eyebrows furrowed angrily while dark eyes scanned the others in front of her and Zayn thanked God that the caster for the movie, had given Megan only a small role in the film or else life on set would've been more tense than it should be. If only her small part had excluded her from being invited. The scene with her character had been significant to the plot and Zayn had to give her props for her contribution because he admits that the girl had a sinful sexual energy about her and Liam’s character had had to kiss her briefly. He’d ask his boyfriend about it afterwards, getting a partial shrug. “It was alright-ish” Liam had admitted but was quick to assure Zayn that he was still far better. Hopefully she behaved for the majority of the time on the island once she gets her suitcases.

Finally he found Liam. The other man was sitting on a chair...'Where'd he get that from?', hidden by the side of the plane. As he approaches the other man he is only stopped briefly by Chad who checks to see if he wants anything. Liam has his laptop open and is holding it up directly in front of his face.

"Daddy misses you. Whossa good boy? Whossa good boy? Awww, you're sooo cuut..." Zayn stays in the open, watching Liam make cooing faces at the built in cam. He hides a laugh behind his hand but it comes out like a giggle anyway and his presence is given away. Liam lowers the laptop back onto his lap; his head turned in Zayn's direction, then tilts his head at him before knocking it backward in a sharp swing, indicating to Zayn to come over. The other man does so compulsively and is at Liam's side in a few seconds. When he's close enough to see the screen he hears the familiar sound of a puppy barking and wet licking sounds. On screen is Bambi, Liam's 4 month old German shepherd puppy, who he had not seen in over a month.

He missed the little guy, just like many other things he missed about his settled life with Liam. The puppy is licking the screen, his tongue making cute, wet, soggy kisses that makes Liam squeal encouragingly and then in turn causes Bambi to paw at the screen while whimpering. It’s just too lovable for words and Zayn can't help but step in, leaning his face alongside Liam's until he can see that he's within the camera's sight before giving a shout out to Bambi and Jasper, the lazy fluffy cat who Zayn can glimpse in the background on the tiled ground.

"Hey Zayn" Yuki, the pet sitter waves, moving Bambi a bit to the side so that she can show her face.

"Hey Yuki. How are you?" Bambi is tackling her, standing on hind legs, tapping his paws on her breast while straining to lick her face. Yuki holds him off easily, a comfortable arm wrapped around his back, her hand rubbing his stomach.

"I'm great. Long time no see; it seems like every time I come visit Liam tells me you're busy on another movie. I heard you're making a, uh, P-pokemon Live Action?"

Zayn continues to smile happily, replying politely with an apology for his absence and a promise to fill her in on his latest project. When Liam takes over, saying goodbye while reminding her to run certain errands, Zayn straightens upright. It never entered his mind that Liam would tell anyone else about their complications so he wasn't surprised that Yuki had no clue about their short separation.  
When Zayn was busy doing solo projects he left for the studio at 8 every morning and came home every night around 7:30, therefore for Liam to hang out with Harry or Niall and not be seen with him for a while wouldn't exactly equal break-up. The press could instigate whatever they had heard as rumors but without confirmation from a reliable source it wouldn’t have gone anywhere. The closing click of the laptop snaps him back into reality and the thoughts that had been on his mind since he got off the plane shot out instantly when they made eye contact,

"Why are you ignoring me? I thought we cleared all the air out on the flight. I know..."

"Zayn, stop" Liam's easy smile catches him off guard and he's not sure how take it. The smile itself makes his heart rate escalate in a recognizable way that causes his lips to tingle. He smiles in return but is still vastly aware that Liam might be trying to disarm him with a smile, making things appear to be back to normal when really they weren't. This could easily turn into a 'break-up' speech and he wasn't about to be thrown off course or give in to Liam's charm unless he knew for sure that things were right between them.  
If he had learned one thing from Onigami Sensei is that you smile at a storm in hopes that it'll make you as courageous as you want to appear but sometimes frowning shows a deeper sense of hope because of the concern and emotion that goes into it. He's not fucking sure what Sensei meant by that but when he applied it to his and Liam's situation it translated as smiling at the problem just makes it seem less than it is thus reducing its significance but when if you frown at it, you're expressing just how complex the situation is and that you're utmost concern is making it better.

Sometimes smiling is the best solution when you don't want to look like a right fool and it’s often the quickest move when you want to maneuver the situation in your favor, making you seem apathetic when really you're hurting. It’s weird how he got all that out of a simple smile. Those 10 minutes of sensei shit really pays off. Zayn frowns, he wanted to show Liam that this was not about who has on the best brave face at the end of a bad break-up but this was almost wearing their feelings down to the absolute core, and Zayn will continuously frown to show his displeasure because he was not letting this go without a fight.

Liam frowns back in return, his true concerns forming instantly as he lets his facade vanish. He looks really tired and Zayn kneels in front of him, spotting the laptop bag on the ground beside the chair he moves the laptop off of Liam's lap and places it into the bag. He takes Liam's hands into his own, smiling nostalgically when he reflexively begins to rub the pad of his thumb against Liam's inner palm. When he glances up Liam is looking down at him, the corner of his mouth pulled up in a small smile. Their eyes held for a few seconds, then Liam speaks,

"I think we should break-up"

Zayn drops from his stooped position onto his knees, eyes still locked on Liam's face but the other man had turned away. It’s strange how fast the butterflies in his stomach turns to lead, the sudden weight of it making the pressure of his body on his knees hurt all the more as they seem to press harder into concrete runaway.

Biting his lip to hold in the urge to bark in frustration, Zayn turns away, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment to gather his thoughts. The shock of Liam's words seemed to have knocked all the courageous wind out of him.  
"Liam, what the fuck..."

"Zayn" Liam has him by the chin and softly pulls Zayn's face back in its former direction. Zayn closes his eyes again, not wanting to see the honesty and truth that lie within Liam eyes, the other man's wobbly smile making it even harder.

"So all this was what? A one year experiment to see if the fangirls were right. Marriage being the final stage?"

"What? No-"  
He's towering above Liam, particularly pulling a move he had learned from his James Bond flick when he goes from being on his knees to standing in a nano-second.

"Then why are you doing this! Why are you pulling all these stops in our relationship all of a sudden" Zayn suddenly feels the need to choke Harry.

"Because you're so much happier without me!" Liam screams, flying out of the chair so that he can attempt to lean over Zayn angrily but soon he says it, it's as if all the hype leaves him and he backs off, straightening himself after a calming breath but Zayn can see that his hands are shaking.

"You might not see it but I do. I mean...look at you, you're, when I saw you for the first time today you looked so relaxed and it was as if the best thing that ever happened to you was getting rid of me. I'm not going to be some obstacle..."  
Zayn throws his hands up in absolute shock, wide eyes set on Liam's face as he listens to the other man. Was he serious?

"Happier without you? I don't know what you're talking about or who you've been talking to" Zayn makes a point of looking over to where everyone else was pretending to mind their own business, all except to Zac Efron, who was openly staring at them, his unblinking gaze creeping Zayn out.

"I'm not blind Zayn. At first I thought it was the whole marriage thing but then, then I saw that it was me. I'm the one who's making things difficult for you Zayn. I'm pushy and needy and you..."

"You seem to think that I'm some kind of kind of victim-"  
Liam laughs dryly at this cutting him off.

"Never a victim Zayn. I have no doubt that you love me-"

"Then why-"

"Because maybe you fell in love with idea of being with me. Liam Paye, funny, outgoing and once proud boyband member... But today after you left my room"  
A loud "OOOOO" obnoxiously interrupted him and Liam sent a glare at Zac. "I thought of our time spent together and remembered that some of the things I forced you to do-"

"Stop saying that dammit! You didn't force me into anything, Liam. I'm a grown man-"

"And don't fuckin lie to me. I mean it when I say that I have an attentin-complex the size of Africa, Zayn!" Now they're yelling and Zayn can make out the selected few of the media that tagged along with them were already digging into their carry-on luggage trying to get their tape recorders to catch everything they said. But it was only when spotted a digital camera that he decided that this truly was not the best place for this.

Liam didn't have an attetion-complex. What the hell was that anyway?  
Then an offbeat version of an unrecognizable Backstreet Boy song catches his attention, darn that Zac.  
"Don't pretend you're sorry  
I know you're not  
You know you've got the power  
To make me weak inside  
Liam, you leave me breathless  
But its okay  
Cause you are my survival

Zayn grabs Liam hand and pulls the reluctant man away from the spectators, walking toward the last of the small planes that placed them a good distance away from everyone else.

I can't Imagine  
A life without your love  
And even forever  
Don't seem like long enough!!!!!!!!!!!

It seemed as if Zac intended for his song to reach them no matter what because he began to sing louder and Zayn was so close to throwing a shoe at the younger man. Those musical theatre days really did a number on the kid.

Cause every time I breathe I take you in  
And my heart beats again  
Baby I can't help it, keep me drowning in your love  
And every time I try to rise above  
I'm swept away by love  
Baby I can't help it  
Keep me drowning in your love.

Liam gives a small laugh and Zayn whirls away from staring angrily at Zac. When they meet each other’s gaze Liam's laugh turns into a sad smile.

"I love that you care about making me happy but it’s tearing me up with guilt to know that I have someone so great but yet he only puts up with me because he seems to be channeling the emotions of a character he once played. I already told you that I'm not Sam and I really don't want to have you stay with me selfishly only to make you miserable. D-don't fucking put me in this position Zayn,-"

Zayn didn't like the way Liam's voice was breaking. It wasn't something he was acquainted with, something that broke his heart because if he was getting this correctly he was to blame for Liam being so emotionally unstable.

"You don't want to be selfish, right? Then don't you think that by making the decision that we should break up all by yourself is selfish? Huh? I don't seem to get a say in this and that happens to cause a few problems sometimes. Therefore your solution is not ending matters..."

Liam grits his teeth angrily, not sure what to say or do. Everything he does is screwing with them and it’s been a long way coming for him to get this wake-up call and its messing with him constantly. However, Zayn doesn't seem concerned with Liam's behavior in the past but rather is willing to continue to be at his side.

"If I'm so selfish Zayn then why don't you just let go" Liam doesn't recognize his own voice. It’s lost its entire bold tremor, barely visible over the mild wind that brushes against them from time to time. He doesn't want Zayn to leave him. To him it was practically destiny when they first met. He's grown rather accustom to having Zayn around him for long periods and that was why when they got together that whenever an idea came to mind he would suggest it and then plead until Zayn gave in. He hadn't thought it was conceited of him because Zayn had always seemed to enjoy their time together, no matter what they were doing. Some of the plans were rather random and a tad drastic but...

Liam freezes all thought as his head begins to pound, the corner of his eyes stinging uncomfortably as he looks anywhere but at Zayn. His partner is stroking his arms when he says,

"Liam, before our first concert I knew you had a bad case of verbal diarrhea and it’s not hurtful or much of a surprise for me when you manage to talk yourself and me into doing whatever plan or adventure you manage to come with. You said that you think that I look good without you today, but tell me why I looked like a caveman just some days ago, huh? Tell me why I carry around our sex tape like some sex addict. Explain to me why I've been training myself using a Chinese Guru just to make myself more confident for when we met again. God! I keep the sheets you slept in the night before you left in a space bag and only take it out so that I can cuddle with it on the nights I can't sleep. I've been a mess Liam. Don't be fooled by my appearance because underneath it, is a desperate man who just wants his boyfriend back. I've been listening to a playlist called 'He left me' that consisted of that song from Lady Antebellum and The Script and that I even put together a very long paragraph of the meaning of each song and how I can apply it to our life. I even brought a house just for us. Heck, even Louis thought I looked suicidal without you!"

Liam's face is officially frozen in a shocked expression. He's only been thinking of the Zayn standing before him right now never actually concentrating on what he'd been like before. He just assumed that because of Zayn's appearance that the other man had gone off and gotten himself a good rest at a month long spa retreat during their break.

DAMN ALL THEM BEAUTIFUL BOYS  
THEY ONLY WANNA DO YA DIRT  
THEY'LL HAVE YA SUICIDAL, SUICIDAL  
WHEN THEY SAY IT’S OVER

DAMN ALL THEM BEAUTIFUL BOYS...  
The loud singing duo of Niall and Zac Efron proved to be even worse than Zac Efron's one man band. Zayn is restrained from looking at them by Liam laying a firm hand on his right shoulder.

"Seriously?" He looks unsure, sending a quick scan over Zayn's body as if looking for any sign of him being a crazed, lovesick, semi-sucidal, playlist making maniac.  
Zayn clears his throat, his eyes trained on Liam's face; he slides his hand down Liam's left arm, weaving their fingers together before bringing the joint hands to his mouth, placing a soft, feathery kiss on Liam's knuckles. With a nervous laugh he begins to sing,  
If you're not the one then why does my soul feel glad today  
If you're not the one then why does my hand fit yours this way  
At this Zayn smiles pleasantly, his dreamy gaze spirals a floodgate of emotions through Liam, who gives a silent laugh at Zayn's choice of song.

His first thought had been 'Is Zayn really romancing me with a very early, very heavily accented, husky-tone version of that Benningfield song'

I never know what the future brings  
But I know you're here with me now  
And I hope you're the one I share my life with

Liam could've stopped him after he saw where the song was going but he found himself memorized by Zayn's unwavering voice and the way the soft look in eyes held true to the words of the song. He found himself chuckling a little at how utterly silly it appeared for Zayn to serenade him. Liam has never made Zayn sing for him, although he suspected the other man would do so in a heartbeat if he ever did, but whenever he was able to listen to Zayn perform solos and their eyes met, Zayn's ability to locate him easily always amazed him, but in that moment he'd get shivers and let the words and music wash over him completely.  
But in this instant, there was no music, no instruments strumming sweetly in the background, just him and Zayn in a foreign land with the vocals of the one he loves surrounding them in a familiar territory that proved comforting and although he felt the tinge of his previous insecurities about their relationship pinch at his brain he found that it lessened further when he was able to give a healthy laugh, grinning happily when Zayn took possession of his hands.

"Every decision I've made with you is because I wanted to and every single one of them, no matter how..." he laughs mildly, "ridiculous they sounded turned out to be just perfect because I got to spend it all with you."

"Skiing in Aspen?"  
Zayn gives a full blown guffaw when the words stir up a memory of absolute hilarity but then winces visibly, his free hand moving downwards to pat the upper part of his crotch briefly.

"Pulling a groin muscle during an unintended skiing accident was not half bad" he nods at his words, giving Liam a sultry stare, "Especially when my private doctor believed in the remedy of kissing everything better"  
Pearly white teeth flashed themselves in response.

"Hiking in Haiwaii?" Liam questions almost rhetorically, his face set disapprovingly. He really shouldn't have even suggested going hiking in the first place. What the fuck had he been thinking!?

"Yeah. That was, terribly bad" Zayn shivers, not wanting to recall that adventure any further. Hawaii itself had been breathtaking, scuba diving proved to be even better but when Liam had suggested hiking, the tour guide had looked all too interested and Zayn had been skeptical. To put it simple the hike had been a complete disaster, consisting on mini volcano pot holes, a bad case of heat, bugs, falling and Liam drinking a bag of thoroughly melted sticky gummy bear fluid.

"No matter what you believe Liam, I did not say yes to it because I feel compelled to please you. Has it ever occurred to you that I just love the adventures you take me on? What I love about you is that you surprise me, keep me on my toes. I want to be kept on my toes Liam. And I want for us if we choose to get married to be settled peacefully outside of the world of Hollywood and go on the longest honeymoon without having Chador Yendal ringing off our cells with new scripts or directors and the media breathing down our necks. This Tavron fiasco isn't going to just fade even after we recover the tape, Lee. We're going to have to promote it for real, travel like crazy in Asia, leak sneak peeks to the highest bidder, out-sell Twilight” he throws in the last part randomly just make Liam laugh,  
“Fuck. It’s going to be a lot of stress and I just thought that when we get married we'd be...well, a hell of a lot freer for at least a year. We could fuck our way through the Caribbean islands for all I care then come home to our quiet home and take turns rubbing each other down with muscle relaxant. I just wanted to wait until things cooled down a bit, Liam, I swear and if I'd have known it would've led to..." Then Liam's on him, kissing against his closed lips with slow tantalizing pecks, a small groan of annoyance making it clear to Zayn that he required his input. Zayn complied shortly, parting his lips just as Liam began to nibble on the bottom one.

"You really thought you had an attention complex" Zayn asks, pulling back from the kiss with a 'are you serious?' expression. Liam frowns, scrunching up his face as if to say 'You ask me this now?',

"How could I not? I mean I’m always critiquing, only wanting things my way, I think I know best and I have to admit that I kind of do look like that Liam guy who wanted to be leader of One Direction" Liam sends his a teasing smile and Zayn arms find purchase around his waist. 

"You do look a lot like him!" Zayn steps back, emphasizing his quick scan of Liam's body by having a thoughtful look and scratching at his hairless chin in appreciation, "Must be why it’s so bearable to fuck you, sometimes"

Liam gasps in dramatic shock,

"Well now is as good a time as any to tell you that I might have a boybander-fetish" The slightly shorter man proceeds to lick his lips suggestively, eyes narrowing with seduction while he traces a finger over Zayn's face.

"Lucky for you, I have a boybander’s cock"  
They both laugh at that but it doesn't last long before they're kissing again. He urges Liam to go behind the side of the plane, blocking their activities from wondering eyes. It’s been over a month and he's all raunchy and aroused from weeks of jacking off to their amateur sex tape.

"HEY! WE'RE READY TO GO BOYS" Megan is screaming demandingly just as Zayn gets a hand on Liam's jeans-covered ass.

"I love you" Liam pulls away slowly, a genuine smile lighting up his face. Zayn returns it, his breathing coming out in shivery rasps. "God. I just wanna fuck right now" and Zayn's cock is attempting a move from the movie 'The Karate Kid' against his zipper.  
Then Liam is dragging his hand over the side of Zayn's face, green eyes watching parted, swollen dark pink lips as they whisper pants into the air. "You look really...I mean really good" he releases a shuddering breath and promptly drops his hand as if the mere touch of Zayn's skin was making his fight for control even harder. They stare at each other for the next 3 minutes. It’s not exactly awkward, but more like they're taking in all the small differences on each other's physically appearance that had occurred over the past month. People are talking loudly in front of the plane they're still behind of and they finally pull it together.

"We'll familiarize ourselves intimately later" Zayn promises, stroking Liam's lower lip with a finger, "And I love you too" he grins, then with a quick, light squeeze of Liam's cheek he grabs the other man's hand and leads them toward the front of the plane where the staircase had been lowered.

"Uh, the food is travelling in this one" Kai Anna informs them, her honey brown cheeks turning a dark shade of pink as she observes their joint hands. She ducks her head, looking very interested in what the ground is saying.

"It’s always been my dream to travel in a plane full of food" Zayn squeezes Liam's hand, sending him a pleading smile. Liam is taken aback for a while, not sure if this is a test to see how he would react to the sudden twist of influence, but another squeeze of his hand and a greedy grin from Zayn causes him to smirk knowingly.

"I won't mind riding with the food. That is, if you put up with the smell of KFC air refresher all the way to the island" he replies amiably. Zayn shrugs, looking at the plane then back at Liam, who smiles naughtily,

"Hm. You know me; I like the adventure in it"  
******************  
In one word, Zayn would describe Mustique as simply 'small'. Their airport was rather miniature and the scenery outside the plane was limited. However, he did get a sense of eager passion for the evitable exploration of the island, especially now that he was being led hurriedly down the small set of steps by an overly keen Liam. After, they were all led to a wide parking area where they spotted a few karts and other unappealing vehicles.

The mules were the main source of transportation in Mustique. When he had first heard Kai Anna mention them having to ride one, Zayn had pictured a donkey with a brown saddle and a funny name like 'Pluto' or something. However, it turned out to be small door-less golf-kart like vehicles. They were available in two colors, dark green and orange. Some of them had small, rectangular trunks that were quickly loaded with their carry-on luggage.  
The airport was small and practically empty if not for the few members on staff. There were only 5 available mules at the moment and they can only take two passengers and with a driver having already been selected from staff beforehand that leaves only one free seat per person. Kai Anna assures them that there are three vehicles from Cotton House on their way and so it’s left up to them to say whether or not they would like to take a ride with one of the drivers on the mule.

"I've rode in similar ones when I play golf so I'm cool with it" Tom hops into the kart nearest him.

"You play gulf?" Liam asks in surprise. Tom nods. Liam jabs Zayn in the ribs. When the other man looks at him, Liam gestures with his head toward the remaining 4 carts.

"No" Zayn states calmly but firmly. Sure he could drive stick and possibly just follow along behind the others but right now he could make out the weariness in dark eyes and sense his own trials of jetlag creeping up on him. What they both needed now was a ride to wherever the fuck they were staying in a safe, all-round encased vehicle. Liam looks ready to stamp his feet but stops when he realizes that would mean exhausting whatever energy he had left. It seemed as if the two had been pumped up on the flood of emotion between them, but now that it’s all drained they were running on empty. Even Zac and Harry were leaning on their taller friends for a nice rest.

When 3 white mini vans pull up with a strange logo on them Kai Anna leaps into view, smiling excitedly. Both Yendal and Chad have decided to go on the karts, along with 2 other members of the crew, leaving the rest to occupy the well air-conditioned vans.

"Alright people, let’s get this show on the road"  
******************  
They both miss all of the sites on their way to their stay. As soon as they got into the van they inhabited the first row, Liam going in before Zayn to get the window seat so that he could see the place while they travel, unfortunately he ends up fogging up the window with his deep breathing, face pressed up against the glass, mouth open as he snores softly. Zayn is only able to laugh quietly before he too is knocked into weird dreams. He started out with his face on Liam's shoulder but when he's being shaken awake he opens his eyes to see that he's face down in Liam's lap. Which was not a bad place to be; however, with the way Kai Anna's pupils have dilated and glazed over he sees that this is neither the time or place or such behavior.

He sends Kai Anna a nod, letting her know he’s aware of what her presence meant, and then angled his head to observe Liam. The other man was a rather unsexy sight. His cheek seemed to be officially stuck to the glass from the way it was flattened against it. The other man's hair was rocking a Vanhelien look and Zayn was left to wonder just how long they had slept. From the way he felt, he assumed it had been 5 minutes at the most.

"You've been asleep the entire trip which is only 12 minutes tops" Kai Anna answers surely when he asks her. Liam comes awake after a couple of shoulder shaking and whispers of 'Baby, wake up' from Zayn. The first thing he does is shake his head, snapping whatever blurs of sleep that remained aside for the moment. Zayn receives a tap on the shoulder and turns away from Liam to face a wide eyed, sleepy looking Harry, who is staring back at him questioningly.

"We're coming" Harry nods, leaving Zayn alone in the van with Liam once more.

"Finally here huh?" he swivels back to look at Liam, who's eyes sag with sleep but still happens to manage a small, appreciative smile. It’s sort of contagious and Zayn adapts one of his own, rubbing a hand over Liam's creased shirt. Liam blinks further but rather than getting livelier he appears to be getting even sleepier. Zayn coos adoringly at him. They don't talk while Zayn helps him out of the vehicle, leading the droopy man carefully. With the sun still sporting off a few good rays of light Zayn finds that he's not much in the mood for sightseeing, only briefly glancing around the luxurious area but only seeing green, which meant grass and yellow, which was probably the house...or the sun. He couldn't tell. God. Even his clear contact lens’ were suffering jetlag. Kai Anna comes to escort him to wherever they're supposed to be going, however, Liam is pretty freaking heavy and is practically dead weight at his side, one of Zayn's arms curved around his slim waist to keep him there securely, while Liam's head is lulled on the side of Zayn's face.

"Yes he would like fries with it" Liam's slurred speech catches him off guard but it helps in making Zayn regain his awareness just a tad. He catches a couple of words from Kai Anna's finishing dialogue. They don't exactly make the best sentence but he'd never been so happy to hear the word 'bed' in his life. Hm. That’s a lie. Maybe twice or 16 times before...give or take.

"OH GOD! YOU-IT WENT RIGHT IN MY MOUTH!" someone is screaming vehemently. The unsettling surprise that shot through him when he heard it startled him further into reality. Grabbing Kai Anna by the collar of her jacket, she had been in the middle of yet another explanation, Zayn declares with misty sight and mumbled words that,

"You betta call a cart to tow 'im", because Liam is suddenly just dead weight. And too much man for him to lug around especially when they're both under the effects of sleep deprivation. Shifting Liam a little, he turns to his left to ask Kai Anna to just take them to a room already when a blunt flash of bright unapologetic light deters his actions while rendering him temporarily blind.

"Holy flashing camera!" Just when he thought he was accustom to the obscene experience of having a gazillion bulb cameras going off in his face this one had to go and top the list. He's pretty sure Liam is nibbling on his hair but there's no time for prevention as he attempts to blink the spots away.

"You guys always look really cute together. It’s so amazing!" is what some bubbly red head who he has recognized from the so-called 'selected media' says. She's grinning excitedly and goes to lift the camera again, this time however, Chad interrupts her,

"I don't think that’s a good idea, darling." Chad indicates with flicking fingers for her to leave, flashing a sympathetic smile to Zayn afterwards.

"Sorry. Glad to see you guys worked things out!" she waves at them but Zayn sees the waggling of her hand much closer to his face than it should be. He thinks that she's either had too much red bull and thinks waving her hand in front of people's faces is funny or his contacts were now giving him 4D. Either way, Chad needed to get them into this mother-effing hotel pronto. Informing Chad of this, he's not surprised when the woman immediately takes action, leading them guardedly toward their destination. Zayn didn't even bother to look around, figuring that he'd sightsee in the morning. He's not sure when Yendal came into the picture but she was walking alongside them and talking to Kai Anna. Before things got hazy again he hears someone declare,

"Welcome to Cotton House"  
******  
Liam's not sure how long he has slept but judging from the amount of sunlight beaming into the room he's in, he'd say pretty freaking long. He doesn't sit up immediately, choosing instead to just flop from side to side on the bed, testing the warm, silky soft sheets while trying to scan the room he's in. It’s amazing how lively he feels this morning and the reason for this familiar sensation is huddled under the lime green duvet forming a rather unattractive lump near him. Before he focused solely on Zayn he noticed that the room itself was large, yet not as large as the ones him and Zayn have ever been in, the apartments that they usually referred to as their secondary homes.

He frowns when he remembers why they refer to them as secondary homes. They'd always planned on having one main house where they could finally just bring all their stuff together and relax knowingly without disturbances rather than having their possessions scattered among these other places. Sure it was good to stay in different places set up elsewhere but Liam thought of them more as vacationing hotspots where they can go visit for a weekend or two, then return to their main house shortly after.

Zayn wanted to be able to decorate the house with their own unique preferences rather than having it furnished professionally beforehand without much of their input on the details, which was the case of staying/living in apartments and hotels. Sure they’ve could settle and brought a house in England, some place nice and close to family. But alas, this still did not fit their profile. It was good to be home in good ole English land but it felt like they were being predictable or something.

"Two English musicians living in England?" Liam had asked in a ‘Yeah, I’ve never heard that one before’ tone of voice.  
To which his mother had replied with a, "What? It’s Kosher"

They wanted to be their own form of Kosher. They wanted to break away from the boundaries and ironies and the predictabilities. Just as they had been doing all the while. Even in continuing beyond ONE DIRECTION most of the shit that went down proved a tad bit like 'Jumping the Shark' to them but it overcame that thin line and succeeded in making their duo comeback a hit. Zayn had decided that they would put together ideas of what they wanted out of their 'dream home' and although Liam never told Zayn, he knew that his partner had already informed Chad of their search based on what they had told each other.

Sure the idea of having a 'dream home' may be one hell of a predictable irony to some people but fuck that. No one could've told them that this was what their future had in store for them. The break up, the comeback, the awards, getting into filming, the foundation, their relationship and status, none of these could've been predicted by anyone, not even him.

He admires that Zayn and he both have plans for the future that include each other on an even more important level than when they were a five member group. He found that the hardest thought to swallow was that he had acted so selfishly toward Zayn for refusing to marry him even though they'd come so far relying on each other's opinions and instincts. At one point he had thought that maybe he loved Zayn more than Zayn loved him but now he sees that it’s pretty much vice versa. He can't take back the past but he could continue to grow in his appreciation of Zayn's deep trust in him and be grateful to the honor of having Zayn in his life. They might not have rings to show their marriage but what they have is a strong bond that came from an instant chemistry to a powerful companionship that will never cease to amaze him with its strength.

Now Mustique was so far pleasant to him, even though he doesn't remember seeing much of it the night before. The room is a little bare, consisting mainly of the bed, a large nightstand to the left of it, a medium sized expensive looking closet with a blue door next to it and yet another door of the same color at the far end of the wall. There are three large windows open and the elegantly stitched thin, white curtains are gently being coaxed into the air by the wind.

...it had a terrace?

Liam sits up, noticing finally that he is without a shirt. His jeans are still on and thankfully the person who had put him to bed had gotten rid of his socks too. He knew it hadn't been Zayn who had tucked him in because his boyfriend would've stripped him down to his boxers, even if he was not wearing any.

"You're up early" a groggy Zayn groans from beneath the layers of thick covering.  
Liam snorts amusedly,

"Well I had to text Brendan Fraiser when I found out I was sleeping with The Mummy"  
Zayn squirms about slightly but doesn't rise from under the layer. Instead Liam feels his warm fingers brush at his bare lower abdomen.

"This Mummy has a kink for under the covers sex" Zayn murmurs with a creepy slang of adoration, his warm palm flat against Liam's lower abs.

"Is this where I call you Imhoe-something-crotch-face and we make hot mummy love to each other"  
Zayn finally emerges from the depths, his hair scattered beyond reasoning but it’s the bright grin he's wearing that captures Liam's immediate attention.

"Or you can just call me Zayn then go from there" his grin turns cheesy and Liam rolls his eyes heavenward, smiling back reflexively. Zayn sits up, stretching abruptly, letting Liam hear every knot come loose just as Zayn groans in appreciation for the release. It’s so familiar that a hot pool of something bubbly forms in Liam's stomach. He had missed these sounds.

"Not bad" Zayn comments, his eyes scanning the room swiftly before settling them back on Liam. "But this view is better"

"And probably cheaper" Liam grins, the two leaning in automatically.  
Zayn's voice is lowered even further when he replies, "Don't sell yourself short"

"Nothing short about me" Liam retorts cheekily. Zayn draws back with a chuckle and Liam pouts at the loss. He's missed Zayn's kisses. He's missed everything about being intimate with Zayn. The other man is stroking the side of Liam’s face and it’s like they'd never been separated as Liam leans into the touch.

"Your hair is way longer than it should be" he states, his fingers fiddling with the ends that curl just an inch above Liam's shoulder.

"And you've cut yours again. I must confess. I like it" Longer fingers massage their way through the short disarrayed strands and Liam's eyes gain a glaze to them as he has a nostalgic moment.  
"What made you cut your hair again?" it was a question that had been on his mind since he saw the change in the other man's appearance yesterday.

"Uh." Zayn scratches at his morning stubble, looking embarrassed, the expression is greatly familiar and Liam leans in closer attentively,

"Well. I know I would've had to face you sometime and uh, even before I found out about this trip I was always formulating some plan or idea to get you back and." He sighs, "I had a beard that totally went to shit after you left. It was all grubby and itchy and smelt like burnt carpet and stale drool" Liam makes a face at this. "Yeah. And my hair was even worse. I just thought that I should at least clean up first before I approached you again. And besides it can be a way of starting over almost both physically and emotionally"

Liam had never really thought of it like that. He finds himself laughing timidly when he recalls what he had previously thought Zayn’s new appearance had meant.

“I thought, when I first saw you yesterday that...that without me you-were better off” Zayn smiles sadly, his hands finding on of Liam’s and joining their fingers together. “You-you just looked so...good” he smiles proudly, his eyes giving Zayn a once over just for the fun of showing just how much he appreciated his physical attributes,

“Don’t objectify me” Zayn says melodramatically, stealing a page from his Adrenaline’s character. They both smile at each other, a pure, eager yearning evident in both of their gazes.

“...And I really want you to kiss me already dammit” Liam all but shouts in frustration.

“You only think I look good? Not...GREAT” Zayn asks with a pseudo vain attitude. Huffing Liam climbs over him and straddles his stomach.

“So, your beard really tasted like stale drool?”

Its Zayn’s turn to huff, all this sexual tension could kill a person. Wrapping his fingers behind Liam’s neck he brings the other man down and they lock lips immediately. It begins as a few small pecks then Zayn's opening his mouth and Liam's seals his own over plump lips. Zayn's fingers are massaging Liam's scalp as they enter familiar territory, using their tongues to map out and search every corner of each other's mouth. Liam moans into the kiss, teeth scraping against Zayn's upper lips.

The morning breath issue is pushed aside for the moment and it seems as if it’s acting like an aphrodisiac of sorts which neither of them is hindered by. He pulls back shortly; his eyes scanning Zayn's already kiss swollen mouth. The red flush to plushy flesh is as arousing as it was every single time before. He leans down, using the tip of his tongue to lick across the surface of Zayn's bottom lip. Groaning, Zayn uses the leverage of his hands in Liam's hair to draw his boyfriend back into a deep kiss. Liam is practically humping his face with his mouth and nose as he can't seem to make up his mind as to which kissing angle is better. He tilts his face to the left, nibbling on Zayn's lower jaw; the tip of his nose is cold and clammy as it brushes against Zayn's cheek.

Then Liam tilts his face to the right luring Zayn's tongue back into his mouth for a sloppy kiss, this time his cold nose nudges Zayn's playfully. Its only when Liam starts moving his head up and down, his mouth set to suction as it latches unto every bit of Zayn's face, sucking it tenderly before moving on, that Zayn finds himself putting an end to the kiss to momentarily give a sated laugh.

"What?"

Zayn feels the memory of their first time ease its way into his mind and he finds himself smiling up at Liam contently.

"Nothing. You uh, remind of the first time we had sex. My eager puppy"

Liam holds his confused tilt of the head for a moment before he realizes what Zayn's referring to.

"Can't believe you remember calling me a puppy" he jabs the other man in the chest playfully.

Zayn raises his hands innocently, "Can't help it. You were so energetic and kept licking my face, Yunnie"

Liam pouts but doesn't deny it. He too recalls attempting to swallow Zayn's mouth, eyes and nose at the same time with his tongue. He couldn't help it. Zayn had tasted so great that night and they were about to have sex for the first time. Apparently when he's excited and nervous it leads to treating Zayn like a lollipop.

"You should be complimented. Not everyone can say that they get face-jobs from their lover"

"Not unless their lover's a plastic surgeon" Zayn adds as an afterthought to what Liam had said.

Liam snorts, running a quick hand through his sleep tussled hair. "You're just full of comebacks this morning, aren't ya?"

In attempt to sound as cheesy as possible Zayn cracks a corny grin, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, saying,

"Rather be packed full of you"  
Liam's face deadpans. Zayn's grin becomes a horny smirk and he pauses his wiggling eyebrows in order to raise the right one suggestively. Unable to help it Liam's scowl morphs quickly into a greedy smile. It happens almost automatically as he continues to stare down at Zayn and he pouts disapprovingly shortly after.

"God I'm so horny even you're lame clichéd remarks are making me hard"

"Dick" Zayn's voice has lowered into a husky whisper. Liam bites his lower lip at the sound. Liking the effect he has on his lover Zayn moves his hands to rest on Liam's chest, cupping around his nipples.

"Suck" he throws out in a hot, velvety tone that makes him sound even more wanton. Liam grabs hold of Zayn's wrists, squirming as the other man uses his thumbs to brush back and forth over the sensitive, peaked heads.

"Paper clips" is spoken next and the words come out on a breathy moan. Liam giggles, pulling the hands away from his chest and pushing until they were on either side of Zayn's head.

"Dora the explorer" he practically moans.

"Now you're just being a tease" Liam makes a displeased noise in the back of his throat and this perks Zayn into action.

"A tease? Can't have people getting word of such blasphemy, Lee" Caught off guard by Zayn's goofy behavior Liam finds himself rolled over onto his back, then with a quick blur of pale skin Zayn is already hovering above him, straddling Liam's thighs. "You of all people should know I'm anything but-"

Zayn edges forward until he's seated on Liam's groin, the rigid material of his jeans doing nothing to accommodate his growing arousal. Liam whines his hips as best he could, his ass sinking deeper into the mattress as he adjusts both his erection and thighs to Zayn's weight. Comfortable and even more turned on than ever Liam claws at Zayn's zipper feverishly. It’s been too long and unlike Zayn he doesn't have a copy of their amateur sex escapades on DVD for his viewing pleasure.

Zayn leans forward, his mouth sealing itself over Liam's, tongue plunging into the warm, wet depth. Liam manages to get the zip down just a little but it’s enough for him to squeeze his hand into. He might've gotten a few scratches on the way in but it was all worth it when he gently closed his fist around Zayn's cock, causing the older man to moan excitedly into his mouth. Zayn sucks sweetly on Liam's tongue as Liam magically penetrates his boxers finally achieving flesh to flesh contact. Liam's thumb immediately, almost reflexively, begins to circle the crown, coating it with drooled precum as Zayn breaks the kiss, placing his forehead into Liam chest, shivering delightfully. Zayn grinds into the touch, kneeling over Liam as to not bear down on him with too much of his weight. Liam's fingers stroke and give light pinches to Zayn's balls, the two holding each other’s gaze.

Liam withdraws his hand moving it directly to his mouth before he's sucking, licking and nibbling at his thumb, dark eyes never leaving brown ones. Zayn already has his jeans open at the waist and is in the act of pulling them down when a steady knock interrupts them. Pausing, they breathe heavily, their adrenaline lowering drastically. They both know that whoever is behind the door isn't going to go away soon and they weren't about to make this into a quickie. Liam is groaning agonizingly before he can stop himself.

Zayn clears his throat, a soothing hand rubbing itself in circles on Liam's bare stomach, "Who is it?"

"Uh, it’s Kai Anna. Sorry to interrupt you so early but breakfast is ready and Mr. Levithian is available for a video conference...he, he requests your, attendance"

Zayn slumps forward, resting his upper body neatly over Liam's, his forehead braced against Liam's as they seem to read each other’s thoughts mentally. Liam's eyes are closed, with Zayn's naked chest pressed against his it’s hard to not just ignore Kai Anna and continue their sultry exploration toward a satisfying romp.

After placing a kiss to Liam's nose, Zayn sits up, looking toward the door as he says, "Give us 20 minutes"

"You have morning breath", Liam points out when Zayn moves to stand. Throwing a raised eyebrow at Liam, he retorts,

"You notice this now?"

Zayn got Liam off in the shower, coaxing him into an orgasm with a few strokes of the hand, his other hand pulling aside one of Liam's ass-cheeks, exposing the tight rose bud to the steam within the shower while his mouth found purchase on Liam's neck. Liam offers to return the favor but Zayn has already come from giving Liam his orgasm. Combined with the dizzying touches, intimate kisses and a general, playful act of naked wrestling on the bed they were lucky to get downstairs in 45 minutes and that’s because Zayn doesn't stop to blow dry his hair as he usually does.

Always the clowns, Niall and Zac burst into applaud when they finally arrive in the dining area, then is shortly followed by Louis, who decides to sing the chorus for 'It’s your Love' by Tim McGraw. Ignoring them comes naturally and Zayn uses the time to take in the surroundings. It’s not exactly breathtaking when compared to all the other interiors he had seen but it’s not exactly road kill either. A very simple yet well portrayed theme of floral whites and dreamy cream colors decorate the room, from the tablecloth to the imprints on the coasters, the drapes dancing above a large opened window and the creamed lilac colored rug has soft bristles that brush and bend beneath his feet as he barefoot toward the table. There is no a/c and the room is healthily brightened and cooled naturally adding to its simplistic radiance. The air, however, bears the scent of freshly prepared pancakes and syrup, bacon and eggs, French toast and the tapping of glass on glass in heard before the sound of pouring fills the room. They politely say good morning.

"Good morning again" Kai Anna greets first. Everyone else chimes in after and the two seek to occupy available seats that would place them near each other. It’s not much of a choice considering just how packed the table was. Zayn is seated near Dylan with Liam beside him at the very end of the table.

"Took you long enough" a voice Zayn doesn't recognize immediately, comments. Liam bumps his arm catching his attention but his boyfriend isn't looking at him but rather his eyes stare toward the front. Zayn follows his gaze and sure enough Levithian's head is being portrayed on a laptop screen at the front, nearest the wall. The laptop itself was placed on a small table and facing them. Some parts of Levithian's face was in distorts according to where the rays of sunlight hit it but Zayn recognized him anyway. He had longer hair now and appeared to be sporting the dreadful goatee but this time it was dyed an almost neon pink but it was definitely the same guy. Zayn wondered why they had placed the laptop to that area instead of closer. Turning to Chad, he asked just that.

"He..."

"I can be one annoying fuck when I have to wait on others" Levithian answers, cutting off Chad promptly.

Liam snorts, his hand making a reach for the faraway bacon pile, "Well the records show that you obviously lack manners when it comes to waiting. Going as far as stealing...."

"Stealing? Can't steal what’s mine, love" Levithian's unmanly, high pitched voice barks dismissively.

Yendal stands, looking toward the screen as she says,

"As I told you before Mr. Davis, we shall discuss this after everyone has finished eating"  
Levithian does not answer, his already illumined image turning a complete shade of black as the connection is broken. No one is surprised and resumes eating. Liam takes 6 strips of bacon from the pile and giving Zayn the same amount but that doesn’t stop the younger man from removing an extra 3 off of Liam’s plate without even a second thought. Liam continues to load his plate, 4 pancakes quickly becomes two as Zayn continues to swipe his lover’s food.

"You want a muffin?" Liam asks, his eyes trailing the other available food.

"What flavor are they?" Zayn's mouth is already being stuffed with a combination of chocolate chip pancake and bacon, a salty yet sweet tang filling his senses.

"Chocolate and Pineapple-Coconut" Dylan's deep vocals inform him.  
Knowing exactly what Zayn would want Liam indicates for Dylan to pass him one of the chocolate muffins since the other man was closer to the large platter.

"Thanks hun" Zayn says; his mouth empty at last when he accepts the offered muffin.

"Want some OJ?" Zayn nods, his eyes scanning his plate while his right hand which held a fork loomed above it. Deciding that the muffin looked too appetizing to leave for later he stabbed into it.

"Zayn, you're such a dork sometimes" Liam teases playfully, placing the cool glass of orange juice on the coaster near Zayn's plate. A flash goes off before the other man can reply; they both look around and spot the perpetrator. Zayn barely is able to recognize the girl from last night and she slumps backward into her chair under his gaze.

"Lizzie!" someone scolds. Lizzie flushes innocently, trying to hide the small camera under the table.

"They just looked so domestic" she says in her defense. Glancing toward Liam shortly she waves timidly, squeaking out a hurried "I love you, Liam" before turning back to her plate, her entire face a sickly shade of purplish-red.

Liam turns to face Zayn; the other has already resumed his eating, but looks at Liam when he feels his gaze. He doesn't say anything, shaking his head in silent laughter.

"Speaking of domestic. One of the media officials who arrived with us thought it would help their career if they printed this" Chad passes a folded paper to Louis, who in turn opens it, runs his eyes over it briefly before passing it to Zac. After everyone takes a turn with their inquisitive asses to see what was on the paper, Zayn finally manages to snatch it out of Harry's hand.  
It’s a printed layout for some teen magazine whose name he doesn't acknowledge because his eyes are trained to tiny thumbnails of yesterday’s quarrel at the airport and last evenings weary stumbling. The hackneyed heading reads 'Trouble in Sweetheart Paradise?' in bold black letters. He's vaguely aware that Liam is reading over his shoulder.

"Am I eating...your hair?" is the first thing out of Liam's mouth.

"Where's the story?" Zayn asks, flipping the single sheet foolishly from front to back.

"I got the call this morning from Tyler and only managed to pull up the cover and get it printed off the net. The magazine should arrive by tonight or tomorrow" they nod in thanks at Yendal for explaining.

"I wonder if they’ll ship out more reporters now that they know where we are." Zayn asks generally. Chad shrugs and Yendal magically has an Ipad in her hands.

"Did you send the photographer packing?" Louis questions; not missing a beat when he had to slap Niall's hand away from the leftover bacon on his plate.

"No, not yet. But he has been dismissed from our outings and Yendal has his cameras" Chad explains,

Liam returns his eyes to the paper, making an appreciative sound in his throat when he notices that the photographer chose to capture the 3rd picture while Zayn was still stooped in front of him, leaning in closely, the angle shows Liam's legs longer than they really are but from the way they're spread the picture itself can suggest many things. For some reason he appreciates it and thinks about cutting it out so that he can paste it into his wallet or something. It doesn't seem to occur to him to check his own appearance in the photo and ensure that he looked good also. He gets good feeling whenever he looks at it, Zayn's half smile is visible and the way he has his head tilted upwards adds to the look of his lips, his own lips tingling as he remembers their kisses early that morning.

"You know I love you right?"  
Zayn is pulled out of his own thoughts at Liam's words. Some rock band is playing loudly in the background but it doesn't take away from the calming, sweet sensations of their moment. The music is cut short just as Zayn leans in for a kiss. Megan is talking repulsively behind them,

"Fine" she tells someone, placing her cell phone neatly in the center of the table.

Levithian's phone transmitted voice reeks of absolute irritation and dismissal, saying, "DUE TO YOUR FAT ASSES TAKING FOREVER TO FINISH BREAKFAST I HAVE DECIDED TO CANCEL TODAYS CONFERENCE"

Yendal and Chad are the first to react. But Levithian is not to be swayed, announcing a chilly 'Call you when I feel like it' before a sharp click ends the call.

"I love you" Zayn smiles gleefully, returning the words of endearment instantly after Levithian's bitch fit. He doesn't even let it bother him that they've lost Levithian for the time being. He finds it therapeutic that he can concentrate solely on enjoying his free time with Liam and his worries about the whole 'Tavron' thing had truly placed a wedge between them previously but he's seeking a well satisfied redemption. Yendal is on her cell, a concentrated strain on her face as she speaks, Zayn looks at her through the corner of his eye, he smiles thinking that worrying was mostly hers and Chung's job anyway. Chadis rounding up the media group when Kai Anna stands swiftly and asks,

"Who wants to go on the tour now?"  
____________

 

Everyone is ready in an hour and then proceeds to gather outside. Liam had used the time to blow dry his own hair to an at least decent style while Zayn raided one of Liam's suitcase for a t-shirt he could borrow. He gets one for Liam also, placing two pair of jeans on the bed before stripping out of his morning attire.

The fresh air is like candy to Liam's nose, the sunlight prickling against his eyes as he takes constant deep breaths. He turns to face Zayn and the other man draws his eyes away from the pleasant scenery in front of them to stare into astonishing hazel eyes that seem to have brightened further when taken into account with Liam's affectionate smile and killer pearly whites.

Zayn leans closer and brushes Liam's mouth with his lips; they don't kiss but Zayn enjoys the feel of the soft skin of Liam's cheek against his own. Liam places a dry palm to Zayn's neck and they knock foreheads briefly, grinning all the while staring deeply into each other’s eyes. Zayn grasps Liam's wrist, the pad of his thumb dragging lazily over the smooth leather of his watch band. Glancing down at his own watch, which was one of those 'I was thinking about you today and got you this cute present since it reminded me of you' gifts from Liam, Zayn asks, "Did you set your time accordingly?"

Liam slaps his free hand against his forehead, making that 'Oh yeah' face he's so proud of. Zayn releases Liam's wrist, scraping his left foot back and forth across the lush green grass beneath it. Megan is staying off the grass, keeping her shiny, black heels grass stain free on the concrete path in front of the villa that extends directly to the tarred pavement of the road. There are neatly trimmed bushes lining the edge of the road and they surround the entire right side of the villa's outdoors. 

He faces the building, Cotton House is not exactly spectacular in comparison to the three or so villas that Liam had viewed pictures of while doing research on the island. But it figures Levithian would put them up in the least attractive one since he had been the one to make the accommodations for their visit. From the cheerful smiles and Kodak moments he was seeing amongst the crew members and most of the media officials, Liam knew that they saw only the bright side to this entire trip which was basically an all expense paid vacation to them.

"So they ate all the KFC, Pizza and Subway last night" Liam's furrowed eyebrows and frown bring Zayn out of his stupor. Leave it to his man to settle on the loss of food he could've eaten.

Throwing an arm around Liam’s back, Zayn strokes his boyfriend’s spine lovingly, then leans forward to whisper encouragingly, "I'll ask Yendal if they can order some more, okay?"

Liam doesn't smile, but rather looks torn as he thinks something over,

"But tonight is local cuisine night. We get to try St. Vincent's natural dish. If I have KFC, then I won’t have room to enjoy Reba's cooking"

"Who's Reba?"

"The chef"

At this Zayn raises a questioning eyebrow, giving Liam his full attention.

"When did you meet the chef?"  
Liam explains that when he disappeared into the kitchen after breakfast it had been to thank the cook for a job well done on the delicious food. Zayn nods believably; it wouldn't be the first time Liam's done so. Liam continues rambling on about Reba showing him a large photo album that contained pictures of all the wonderful food and treats they had prepared in the past.

Zayn holds up a hand, "And this happened over the course of 15 minutes?"

"I make friends fast"

Zayn knew all too well the truth behind that phrase.

This time Zayn doesn't hesitate in answering when asked whether he wants to ride in the mule or not. Liam is already bouncing on his heels before Zayn can get the words 'Of course' out. Liam wants to drive but Zayn does not like the odds on that one. Two-way bicycle riding was once one of their relaxation periods until Liam decided that it was alright for him to race a bunch of cyclist to an ice cream parlor. They hadn't crashed or anything seemingly dangerous but Zayn had almost shit a brick when Liam attempted to pull a wheelie while using a speed bump as a ramp. Zayn remembers yelling something along the lines of 'We're not riding fucking BMX bikes Liam!',

In spite of the reckless stunt they still ventured out on jovial occasions to a park nearby wherever they were staying and rented a two-seater bike. Zayn always opted to be in the front and Liam was all too happy to just sit back and let him do all the work. In terms of Liam volunteering to drive the mule Zayn's official reply was 'not today Liam'.

"Fine, Fine" Liam waves him off casually, then holds up an item in his hand, grinning as he snaps a picture of Zayn sitting in the driver seat of the mule, "I'll just" he takes another picture then adds, "man the camera"

Feeding off of Liam's good nature comes easily to Zayn and he grins amenably at his boyfriend, waving the other man over.

"Can I ride with you guys?" a new voice asks just as Liam plants himself beside Zayn. Harry's holding a water bottle, dressed in brown khakis, silver crocs and a baggy, neon green t-shirt. Zayn makes a snorting sound.

"You going for the tourist look, I see?"  
Harry looks down at himself and finds nothing wrong.

"Nah, lost a bet" is all he says. He throws a glance at Zayn and Liam, taking in their choice of attire and asks, "What’s your excuse?"  
Zayn's adorning a plain white tee, faded blue jeans that sag deeply around his legs and white Nike slippers. He has the additional pair of dark sunglasses pushed back on top of his scalp and a rough layer of sun block lip chap-stick on his lips. Zayn suspects immediately that Harry was referring to Liam's own crocs that were now being displayed as the talL man attempted to hoist his feet up unto the small dashboard. It was bad enough that they were baby blue but did he have to wear the socks.

"Leave my man alone. I happen to love his crocs"

Harry makes a weird face, "Was that some kind of innuendo?"

Liam, finally deciding that his feet weren't going to fit on the dashboard, picks up on Harry's previously asked question.

"Is everybody else full or something?"

The three glance around to where the others were filing into the other available mules. There were about 13 of the vehicles and Zayn noticed that there were at least 4 people in one mule.

"I guess you have to ride in the back" Zayn uses his thumb to behind him. Harry thanks him gratefully but pauses before climbing in. Looking Zayn sincerely in the eyes, the younger man apologizes for all the trouble he has caused them, knowing that he too shared a role, no matter how small, in their separation.

Zayn gives him a small smile. In truth, he doesn't like thinking about how close he came to losing Liam foolishly at all and would rather just forgive and forget because whenever he dwells too much on the matter it gives him more than just a few headaches. It makes him feel like he's suffocating, watching the scenes replay in his mind, standing on the sidelines as Liam leaves, listening but unable to change anything.

He just wants to be in the now and Liam was his, now even more than he's ever been. They have an understanding, Zayn has learned to come out of his safety zone and do things for them rather than playing it secure and letting Liam decide everything for them. He realizes now that he's been withholding himself in their relationship just a little too much. The love and energy is definitely there but most of the energy was always Liam's. Sure Liam had taken them on quite a few escapades but they've decided that from now on, it'll be 'what’s best for the both of them' not just jumping into everything because it makes thing easier for him. He's always been a rationalist and Liam's always willing to compromise no matter what, therefore the future seem to hold even bigger and brighter possibilities for them. He's not going to be a reactor anymore; instead he's going to be a doer.

Liam has never stopped seeking to push their relationship to its peak of its fruitfulness but by doing on his own Zayn has allowed him to be tad selfish in his actions. Zayn doesn't blame Liam, though. He can't. Liam has only done what he thought was best for the both of them and Zayn figures that its time that he starts pushing his own weight alongside Liam. Zayn can't wait to wrap up this whole Tavron conspiracy so that they can go on the longest honeymoon known to man.

Liam snaps a picture of Harry then turns back to the front. Zayn gives him a corny smile and Liam leans forward to place a chaste kiss on his lips. When it’s over Zayn goes to start the engine but Liam cups his cheek and drags him into a sweet kiss. A flash of white light illuminates the side of his face, not breaking the kiss, Zayn looks up to find Liam's outstretched arm aiming the camera lens at them.

"Say cheese" Liam pulls back a little and says. Harry is grunting something in the back when the flash goes off again, but soon after Zayn is pulling Liam deeper into their lip lock; his tongue swiping at the corners of the other's man’s mouth.  
******

Kai Anna is standing on the back of a medium sized truck in front of them. A microphone is pressed to her lips as she talks and the sound is maximized through the loud speakers behind her. She's wearing a floral patterned sundress with knee length jeans under them. Zayn figures they are more for protection than style, the wind is not exactly subtle about indecent exposure. He drives accordingly to the speed of the two other mules in front of him but pulls aside to take pictures when Kai Anna announces that they're at the library.  
The others follow suit when they notice Liam and Harry rushing out of the now unmoving vehicle.

The library is rather small and nothing to write home about but there's this beautiful abundance of grass and short, flowery trees behind and around the building that make the scenery picture worthy. Nichkhun, Lee, Megan and 4 others take pictures under a tree while Liam pulls Zayn onto the grass and Zayn is on his stomach, head braced up on his arms with Liam's head on the centre of his back, the other man's body is stretched out seductively, one leg bent and the other sprawled while Harry snaps pictures of them like crazy. Louis runs in and straddles Zayn's back and his ass almost squashes Liam's face before the older man could move out of the way. Louis is wearing a cowboy's hat that Liam is surprised to see in his possession. Louis is whirling his hand around his head like he's about to lasso a bull whilst riding Zayn. Harry gets some shots of that.

In an act of heroism, Liam tackles Louis off of Zayn. Harry just keeps snapping away even as they wrestle around stupidly before he simply begins recording a video of it instead. Zayn rolls his eyes at them, brushing off his jeans and t-shirt as he stands. He has visible grass stains on his tee-shirt but it’s just a minor setback to just what can happen on this tour.

The last thing they all do is take a group shot of everyone, with Niall, Zac, 3 members of the crew, Megan and Jensen kneeling in the front on the grass while the others hug each other around the waist behind them in a semi-circle.

"Take another!" Niall calls out eagerly.

"Yeah and Kai Anna get your fine ass in the picture" Melinda, a journalist for a popular magazine says.

Not one to argue when the benefits outweighed the negative she waves over the driver for the truck and hands him the camera. She places an arm around Dyla's waist and smiles brightly. Her heart is racing even as the driver yells for everyone to 'Say cheese' and she can't even manage to speak before the flash goes off. It takes all her strength not to squeal.  
****

Their next stop is the Pink House. After passing the Library, the truck had turned right, up a small hill rather than continue straight ahead. They passed a small community and a church near the roadside at the top of the hill. Liam takes some pictures of the houses before they continue downwards. Kai Anna held tightly unto the side of the trunk, her voice never wavering in the least as she speaks to them animatedly. When they had passed a steep set of stairs that curved inwards towards a bunch of flower bushes and random stingy trees, she points out that there is a large cage at the bottom which is home to a few peacocks. Liam had reached over to honk the horn, indicating that he wanted to go down and take pictures but Kai Anna stops him.

"When we get to the bottom of the hill I'll take you guys around there, okay?"

Zayn smells the beach before he sees it, his time at the Saipan condo paying off for his new talent. They arrive at the bottom of the hill and the beach comes into view. The sun is out and is hitting the white sand and faded cerulean waters directly. There are a few small fishing boats at the far end but up ahead all Zayn can see is clean sand and sparkling water. A group of men sit in the shade of a dingy area opposite a supermarket, playing dominoes. They wave politely when they see the train of mules. Liam takes another picture and Zayn slows down just a bit for him to get a good shot. There is a large stylish wooden brown gate of sort that seals off the sand from the road.

The supermarket they see is rather simple but pleasant and it’s apparently the only one on the island. The villas get all their supplies from the mainland and the supermarket is mostly used by the visitors whenever they need a little snack in between meals or for the residents and the workers who worked nearby. Now the Pink House is very creative in stature. Well for the most obvious, it’s primarily pink but rippled perfectly with white. At first glance it reminds Zayn of a small, girly, church. The entire house seems to be constructed from wood and it’s just really, cute looking, very super Barbie cute. ‘God, if I wasn’t gay before’ Liam leans over and whispers to him, his eyes fixed on the building. Zayn is the first to draw Liam's attention to the house next door. It’s purple.

"These are the pink and purple house" Kai Anna says through a small speakerphone.

"Well duh" Megan scoffs but her eyes never leave the pink house.

Kai Anna ignores her and happily leads them into the pink house after everyone has parked appropriately alongside the road. Inside there are t-shirts of a variety of colors, swimming supplies and such, woven baskets, women dresses and seductive shawls, accessories for women but they don’t explore longer than necessary because Zayn senses ice-cream in the area and hauls Liam off to find its source.

The others all look around and admire a few things but what does capture their attention, like Zayn, is the availability of ice cream cones for purchase. Liam is surprised that even after recently consuming breakfast that he is able to enjoy the snack. Zayn orders for the both of them. He gets 2 scoops of chocolate on a waffle cone while Liam settles for a rocky road. Louis comes over shortly after and displays his rum and raisin flavor to Zayn, calling him a wuss for not taking a manlier flavor.

"There's nothing manly about ice cream, Louis" Liam scolds, his mouth only leaving the treat for as long as he had to speak. For emphasis he whips his tongue over a drooling line of white, dragging the deadly appendage by the tip through the cold, soft texture until it broke free at the surface. Even after that erotic showcase Liam still isn't finished but this time he bites into the ice cream using his lips and tears away a nice, big glop of the melting treat.

"That was....uncalled for" Louis shivers visibly, pats Zayn on the shoulder and walks away. Zayn barely feels the touch.

Liam looks tired all of a sudden and Zayn is finally successful in breaking out of his daze.

"You okay?"

Liam holds a finger, turns his head away and takes a deep breath. He presses that same finger to his head and yelps, "Brain freeze"

Zayn takes a lick of his ice cream, relieving it of any dribbling lines before wrapping an arm around Liam's waist.

"Okay. So feel free to look around but stay along this road!" Kai Anna explains, her index finger pointing out the stretch of road. "If you have questions feel free to ask anyone you see, the workers and locals are all friendly but if you don't feel up to asking a stranger in anything in English, I will be right here" she points to the spot where she's standing.  
***

They break up into groups of how ever many they wanted. Liam and Zayn were joined by Harry, Louis, Tom and Jensen while Niall, Zac and Dylan choose to run off toward the bar and beach area. Zayn led the way into the Purple House, his fingers intertwined with Liam as they stepped inside a well air conditioned, fairly lit room. If he had to come up with one word to describe the interior he would probably have to say, 'clustered'. There weren't a lot of 'Oh wow! S'fuck is that?' kind of stuff that made Liam antsy or made Zayn's curiosity spike but the place was still pretty darn full of toys and candy with the additional diving gear and what appeared to be locally made jewelry. Zayn found himself liking a few of the jewelry, especially the bracelets that were made from crab pinchers.

"Were they made here? Like from Saint Vincent, I mean? Are they real crab...thingies" he inquiries, the correct word slipping his mind at the moment as he holds up one of the pincher bracelets. The lady behind the counter turned down the new Lady Gaga mix and focused on Zayn.

"Uh, yeah. The um, the designer is an Indonesian actually"

Even with her darker complexion and the weird lights in the room Zayn can see that she is flustered. He doesn't ask any more questions and buys two of the bracelets, noting that the prices were marked in US. None of them had any local cash but Kai Anna had already guaranteed them this morning that Mustique is well prepared to accept foreign currency such as US or Euro. By the time they're ready to leave the Purple House Zayn has bought three packs of skittles, 5 Twix bars and a glowing, squishy ball. T.O.P and Liam are looking into each other's Purple House well-designed customer service bags, leaving Zayn to converse with Harry and Louis while Lee scurried off to ask Kai Anna a question.

They decide to head toward the small, hut-like building that read 'Basil's Boutique'. On the way they pass a bunch of creepy wooden idols and a large array of vines before spotting a door. It appears to be a house behind a wall of grass and trees but none of them want to go back and ask Kai Anna about it. Finally Harry just shouts for Kai Anna and she jerks her head up from listening to the man beside her. They all jokingly point to the house when they catch her attention, not even bothering to say anything.

Kai Anna nods and moves towards them. Liam loops an arm over Zayn's shoulder as they watch her approach.

"This is Basil's house. As you can see there's his bar and his boutique" she points to the boutique they were previously heading to. Zayn knows that the bar in around back behind the boutique and therefore answers for Kai Anna when T.O.P asks "What bar?"

Kai Anna gives them a brief history of Basil and they're on the move again. A massive tree can be seen popping through the roof of the boutique and Zayn wonders just what might've caused as an odd yet interesting sight. Liam takes a picture of it, and then snaps one of Niall and Zac Efron walking along the beach barefoot, gazing out into the horizon.

The store is well air-conditioned also and Zayn has never been more thankful even after he had only spent roughly 10 minutes in the sun outdoors. Liam is the first to stand under the a/c unit, fanning at himself with his shirt as he bathed his body with the cool air. The boutique itself is much brighter than the Purple House's interior and has a lot of souvenir t-shirts. Louis is holding up a bikini top to his chest when a dark-skinned petite teenage girl appears from behind a white door in the back of the store.

"Good morning" she greets politely, her cheeks puffy as she consumes the last of whatever she had been eating. They all answer in return and she is moving forward to ask Tom, who is searching through women's dresses, if he needs any help. When Tom starts describing his a female figure who he may or may not be dating, Zayn turns his attention to his boyfriend who has now stripped out of his crocs and socks, standing barefoot on the polished wooden floor. He doesn't comment on it but slaps Liam on the ass when he passes him, his eyes never leaving the displayed clothing. Liam yelps quietly, kicking out his left leg at Zayn, landing a quick poke to the younger man's back with is toes. Zayn surely didn't expect the karate move, sending Liam a challenging smirk over his shoulder.

After thumbing through a few of the large tee-shirts that either read 'Basil's Bar' or 'Mustique' Zayn decides to purchase 4 really nice ones that had managed to fit both Liam and himself. The t-shirts hardly stretched much but luckily the salesgirl had a good extension of sizes. Lee goes into the small dressing room, not bothering to pull the curtains as he tries on t-shirt after t-shirt. Zayn is about to throw the fact that he's behaving like a woman at him, however, Harry beats him to the punch. Louis flips them both off either way. Harry and Liam buy a few 'Mustique post cards' from the small spinning rack on the cash desk.

"One for mom, one for…oh crap. Zayn" Liam calls from the tiny cash desk. Zayn answers with a loud 'hmm?', He's currently looking at dresses for Tom's female love interest.

Liam looks up from his wallet, shaking his hair from his eyes and asks,

"Do you see any cute dresses for your sisters?" He had seen some really girly ones back at the Pink House but was not really in the mood to walk back over there. He really wanted to walk on the bleached sand that had been calling for his consideration. Hopefully Basil had some pretty dresses also.

Zayn finally glances up from his inspection, catching Liam's staring eyes before looking back toward the line of dresses in front of him.

"What sizes are they?" Tom asks in turn.

Zayn gives an exasperated sigh. 'Girls and their sizes'

"Small, I guess? Right, Zayn?" Liam gazes at Zayn for confirmation.

Zayn looks just as confused as Liam feels. He does, however, nod in response, eyes scanning the garments.

"Do you have any small sized dresses?" Liam softly questions in politely to the amused looking salesgirl as she moves behind the desk.

She leans forward, palms flat against the desk's surface, her golden brown eyes staring casually at Liam's face. "How small?" she gestured using her hands.

Liam appears tongue tied for a moment and has to resist the urge to transfer the question to Zayn, knowing that the other man was just as clueless as he was about the size.

"Uh,"  
Just then a panting Zac Efron walks through the boutique's door, the chime that signals his entrance drawing all of their attention. Liam's eyes roam over Zac's body, then he points and says, "Like him. They’re as small as he is"

Zac looks frustrated for some reason. "You not sell bottled water?" his voice is scratchy as if he had been eating sand. The salesgirl locks eyes with Liam before turning her attention to Zac, running her eyes over his frame. She informs him that he should check the bar and Zac leaves, giving them all a small dismissive wave when he has pried the door open.  
"So you want dresses in his size?" she is still using hand gestures and sounding out the words at a smooth pace, to which they are able to understand.  
Liam thinks it over, picturing their sisters in his head.  
"Uh, make one of them in, um, his size" a single digit points to Tom, who stops tapping on a glass cupboard when he spots Liam's gesture.

"I always knew Tom was your mistress" Louis says boldly, walking to stand beside Liam at the counter, he drops two CD cases marked 'Blues Feast 2007' and 'Blues feast 2008' onto the desk.  
"That one is for Nicola" Zayn states truthfully.  
Louis shrugs Zayn's reply off, eyeing the teenager, "Ring me up darlin'" he tells the girl in perfect husky voice. She doesn't answer, just smiles as she twirls the mouse to clear the computer screen.  
Zayn turns to Liam, meeting his boyfriend's narrowed gaze in surprise.

"You calling my sister fat Malik"

Zayn gapes, "What? No. Of course not. But come on. She had Aidan 5 months ago, admit it she's gotten quite..." unable to find a mildly insulting word Zayn mimes the image of a swollen person. Liam knows Zayn's just being honest and he obviously doesn't mean any harm. Even he can admit that Nic had packed on a lot of pounds during and after her pregnancy but knows from experience just how 'pinch-happy' she got whenever he brought up her weight issue. He remembers Zayn blatantly telling her one afternoon during their visit to her home, that Liam had called her his chubby sis and she had gone out of her way to pinch Liam a new hole. Liam smiles evilly at Zayn, sweet revenge lay in the horizon.

"We might as well get Simon a dress too. He might feel left out" Zayn recommends as seriously as possible.

Liam gives a few chuckles, a carefree shine to his face as he indicates for the salesgirl to begin tallying up the prices. "As long as we get a nice bikini too" he says in return, glancing at Zayn. The small wrinkles at the corner of Zayn's excited eyes speak the other man's agreement louder than any words ever could.  
*************  
Kai Anna takes those who requested to see the peacocks along a short, thin path of concrete in an almost grassy alley between the Purple House and someone's yard. Liam doesn't follow them, choosing instead to walk on the warm, white sand of the beach nearby Basil's bar with Zayn. Their bare feet leave visible tracks in the sand as they slowly travel from one end of the beach to the other. It’s not a long stretch of sand but they take their time, bumping shoulders every few minutes as they move, stopping whenever Liam pointed toward something on the sea. The water is beautiful, rather shallow and decorated with small yachts.   
Liam loves the play of the sunlight as it reflects dreamily on Zayn's already glittery eyes whenever the other man chances a glance toward the bright sky. It only takes another couple of looks toward the sky before Zayn is lowering his shades to shield his eyes. Liam misses the sight of Zayn's eyes but knows that they're a bit sensitive to strong rays of light. He can feel the tiny droplets of sweat dancing on his back and uses his t-shirt to fan himself, a tad self-conscious of himself whenever he gets overly sweaty.

Sensing Liam's discomfort almost maternally Zayn asks, "Did you put on the vest I gave you?"

Liam nods, the sudden extra weight of the thin, white vest Zayn had told him to put on under his t-shirt making itself even more pronounced as it attempted to form a protective layer around Liam's torso.

"Wanna take off the shirt?" Zayn suggests, his right hand already fiddling with the bottom hem of Liam's t-shirt. The older man looks over towards the bar where there were several other patrons who seemed to be going about their business. Well, everyone except the two men behind the large bar who kept looking at them before conversing secretly. When Zayn turned to see what Liam was distracted by he caught the eye of one of the barmen before the worker faced his friend and they shared a laugh. Not letting it bother him Zayn concentrated on easing Liam's discomfort and begins leading them toward the bar.

"I wanted to go for a swim with you" Liam mutters disappointedly, his eyes staring longingly at the greenish blue water. Zayn reassures him that they were many other beaches on the island that they could visit, ones that were much more private.

They rinse their feet, Zayn picks up his slippers and Liam holds his crocs. They both head over to the bar's wooden island, straddling two bar stools at the end of it. One of the patrons whom Zayn realizes up close is the same man who had been laughing, moves to serve them. He's dark skinned with many small moles covering his face and neck. His two friends are dressed in what Zayn assumes is their work clothes’, consisting of black trousers, with a white shirt tucked into it and black holster straps over their shoulders. The bar itself gives off a very relaxing vibe. It is basically a large hut with no windows, open sea for ones viewing pleasure and from the looks of the amount of customers on their laptops, free WIFI. It’s what you might expect to see a bar on a luxurious island to look like, thatched palm tree roof included. Behind the island bar is a broad table situated with every bottle of rum, wine or alcohol you could think of. There is a neat little basin attached to it, along with several rows of glasses stacked in size and shape.

"What can I get ya?" the man speaks forwardly, his body language informal as he looks back and forth between Liam and Zayn. As if remembering something his head rears back in sudden thought and Zayn can tell the exact moment when recognition sets in.  
"Yo. You’re that guy, the one from, Adrenalin! Whoa." The man stares at him with wide eyes, his mouth frozen in an 'OH'. "Wow...I, I never thought..." his eyes trails to Liam and it’s obvious that the man knew Zayn from that movie but had no idea about his personal life. He barely understood what the man had said due to his thick creole drag but the word Adrenalin had made the meaning clear enough.

Zayn speaks to draw the man's eyes away from Liam, who is just smiling politely, "Um, yes. You are fan?"

The words seem to do the trick and the man's eyes fall back on Zayn. "A fan? Hm, nah, not really" he shrugs coolly, reaching toward a small pile of what appeared to be tropically decorated menus. "I just like watching Action movies, especially the action flicks" He hands them one menu each, the star-struck wonderment leaving his dark brown irises.

"Welcome to Basil's Bar. My name is Gregory, how may I help you?" Gregory's friends giggle behind him, a chubby worker is listening to their conversation while washing a dirty blender in the small basin.

Zayn looks at Liam, who is already browsing the menu. Liam catches his gaze once he's finished looking it over and inquires whether or not Zayn would settle for just a coke since they were unsure of what exactly some of the words even were.

"You want one, too?" Zayn retorts almost instantly, his eyes never leaving Liam. They maintain eye contact as Liam says, "No thanks. Think I'm going to get a glass of water to wash away the taste of the ice cream"  
Liking that idea better Zayn vouches for Gregory to get them two bottle waters. Gregory replies cautiously, that they don't sell small bottled waters but have water available from large water bottles which they keep in the fridge and they would serve to customers with ice in glasses.  
"So you guys don't have it...like on tap or something, you know, with ice?" Liam asks, thinking that he and Zayn are not too prissy to drink from the tap. Besides, why send Gregory to do all the hard work.

Gregory scrunches up his nose at Liam's pieced together question, "You'd be crazy to try that while in Mustique. Unless you like your water laden with bacteria and a salty tang to it"  
Not sure what the man means Zayn questions him.

"Uh, how long have you been here? You're not supposed to drink the water from the tap, it’s from the sea and not that purified to the point where you can actually drink it without boiling it first and will evidently give you diarrhea, man"  
Understanding what the man had said they gaped at each other, this was news to them. Liam shrugs his shoulders; he doesn't remember Kai Anna mentioning it.

The sound of flesh hitting flesh broke them from their moment. They face Gregory skeptically.

"Don't worry about it; I'm sure you would've been told eventually. Besides if you're renting a villa here then I'm sure it's safe" from Gregory's rambling they assume he has never been to one of the villas much less tested their water. If it was harmful Kai Anna would have told them by now. Zayn decides to ask her about it later and gets Liam's mind off the matter by requesting to Gregory that he simply give them two glasses on the water they kept in the fridge.

They watch in surprise as Gregory stoops, opening a small refrigerator that they hadn't noticed and withdrawing a long, thick, transparent bottle of water. There was large blue label around it and Gregory took it upon himself to flash the name to them before he took aside two glasses. 'Mountain Top water?' Zayn mouths to Liam, who looks just as baffled, the English words easy to decipher as they like random words thrown together.

"It’s a local brand. From the mainland" Gregory answered as if he knew exactly what they had been thinking. He turns, his arms outstretched with two glasses filled with the liquid and the clinging sounds of ice hitting the glass as he approached them, then places the glasses on the coasters near their hands. Gregory turns back toward the mini-bar and without either of them having asked for it he returns with two bundled napkins, dropping them each in front of the foreign celebrities. Liam glances at Zayn briefly before opening the napkin with spidery fingers to reveal a neatly cut lime. Chuckling he squashes it onto the glass edge, raising the glass in thanks to Gregory. Zayn does the same with his lime.

"So, Gregory what is fun in Mustique?"  
Gregory appears genuinely surprised at Zayn's question or maybe at his English. He tilts his head to the left, observing his customers,

"Well if you have to ask me that then I assume you are not having much fun as yet eh?"  
Laughter breaks out from behind Gregory but this time the chubby bartender and his short male friend are being entertained by something that’s occurring on a nearby yacht. Zayn and Liam follow their gazes, having to lean over a little to catch the object of their amusement. The men give a low whistle when Zayn finally spots the source of their leisure.

"Naked tourists again" Gregory's not even looking in the direction and yet he manages to hit the nail on the head. He sounds drastically bored, as if seeing naked women sunbathing on their boats was something you see every day.

"See this often?" Liam pushes his empty glass away, locking eyes with Gregory. He decides to go with shorter, more to the point English.  
Gregory's shoulder rise and fall casually, "It’s always the same. A couple of breasts and the occasional bleached white ass" After a pause, Gregory looks as if he shouldn’t have said as much as he just did but shrugs inwardly telling himself the Asians in front of him probably didn’t understand much of it anyway.  
Liam understands most of it while Zayn’s wide eyed expression at the mention of the word ‘breast’ so casually tells Liam that his boyfriend understood enough of it.

"You do not like women?" Liam is going for the same casual conversational tone despite his disadvantage.  
Gregory's eyes go from Liam to Zayn, then back to Liam.

"Eh? No, I mean yes, yes I'm into that. Much into girls, thank you. It jus dem white women don't really, do nothing for me, you overs? I like de blacker the berry, de sweeter the juice cliché" his reddish-pink tongue swipes over his thin upper lip as he seems to go off in a daze to fantasize seeming to forget who he was talking too as he jumps directly into a creole slang in order to defend his sexuality.

Zayn smiles nonetheless, shaking his head; he understands the concept of the bartender's words as well as his body language. His eyes travel to Liam, who is already looking at him with a knowing grin. Sometimes people just have preferences to what they needed.

"I know what you mean" Zayn tells Gregory. Just as his right hand is about to close over Liam's, T.O.P and Harry are calling out to them in their native tongue. Automatically a relief washes over Zayn and he slips back easily into bantering Korean with T.O.P.

They thank Gregory for the water and the other man readily invites them to bring a couple of friends to Basil's Bar around 8 p.m. because they were having their traditional karaoke night among staff and visitors. They agree happily after a few difficulties, pleased to have made a new friend.

Kai Anna approaches them just as they are rounding the boutique on the short boardwalk. She grins brightly, waving them back toward the bar. It is then they notice that everyone else is heading in the same direction. Zayn catches the idea before Liam, declaring with a proverbial shout  
“Yes! Lunch!”  
Liam checks his watch, its only 11:28.  
**********  
Liam is switching memory cards, the first 16 gigs already full and it’s just 2:12 p.m. He doesn't complain when Zayn warns him not to overdo it with the 16 gigs card he is currently placing into the camera but as soon as it's in and working properly he snaps two pictures of Zayn doing this funny thing with his mouth. The younger man doesn't complain and they're heading for Macaroni beach where they are going to spend the rest of the day.

Zayn has changed into his Basil t-shirt and Liam is in his vest and jeans, all the other guys are either shirtless or maintaining their t-shirts while losing their pants, choosing to stay in their boxers or briefs, or like Niall, Tom, Zac and Harry, who were all shirtless, and down to their boxers.

Harry and Louis are now riding in the back of Jensen and Louis's mule and Kai Anna is still talking to the front of them in the truck. After what seemed like a millennia of sightseeing and picture stops, Zayn is going to get just what he had been waiting for since they arrived on the island. And that was some good ole fashion beach fun. Liam, who is looking at Zayn every few minutes, suspects that the never faltering grin that has been struck to Zayn's face for at least 10 minutes is due to the calling of the waves.

"ET go home?" Liam mocks, reaching out with his left elbow to poke Zayn's bare arm.

Looking toward the sky, Zayn takes a deep breath, tilting his head back against the seat briefly. He points to the front of them with his index fingers and simply says,

“DJ Malik go home", his voice robotic and creepy. His driving companion just laughs, then, as if finally realizing what their destination means, Liam mumbles a startled, "Crap"

He doesn't have to look to see that Min is staring at him. "We didn't bring any swim trunks”

The younger man doesn’t answer immediately,

“I think I remember Kai Anna ranting about us not bringing anything with us, maybe she expects us to…: he clears his throat, “Skinny drip” he adds in a sing-song melody. Liam makes a show of inspecting the persons in the mule in front of theirs. They were a part of the media. There are five of them on the mule; the only woman in the kart was the one that was driving, while three of her male passengers chatted blissfully behind her, the one that was seated beside her was barely visible to Liam, except for when he stuck his head further out of the vehicle to snap a quick picture.

The men were wearing only their pants and Zayn is once again trying to ignore the sight of hairy chests and beer bellies as he concentrates on the dried mud road, avoiding large puddles of muddy water that, according to Kai Anna, refused to dry.  
“Guess we’ll have to boxer it like everyone else” he tells Liam flatly. The dark haired man doesn’t seem to care, his hands flying to his belt buckle earnestly.

“And here I thought you saved those feisty, unbuckling hands for the bedroom”

The thick, brown leather belt comes off after 10 seconds of Liam’s vigilant ministrations. He drops it smugly behind him into the carry-on tray, dusting his hands of imaginary dust as if to say ‘That’s that”

Giving Zayn his full attention, he asks honestly, “Want me to do yours next?”

Zayn negatively shakes his head, beaming at Liam in advance to facing the road again. They ride in the noise of Kai Anna’s voice and the loud rumbling sounds of the mules. Someone, they believe is Megan, has begun pressing down on their horn, leaving it to honk annoyingly every time they pass a puddle, big or small, which luckily were few. But not few enough, for Zayn soon began considering the option of pulling out of the mule line and reversing his kart right into Megan’s.

“God, I feel like reversing the fucking kart into her mouth” Liam fumes slightly when the nuisance horn struck again.

“I hate to say it, but I was thinking something similar to that” Zayn divulges.

Liam sighs heavily, Megan’s charades sullying his mood. She just had way of getting under people’s skin. Just then, everyone else begins to blow their horns, signaling Zayn’s attention to what lied ahead. It appeared to be some sort of deadbeat looking park, a dark blob of tight soil, covered by patches of green almost like a dirty concrete parking lot struggling to grow grass with two large picnics sheds detectable, and one parked blue RA4 and 3 orange mules beside it. As Kai Anna’s truck pulled into a free spot and parked, she hopped off the back, holding a portable speakerphone to her mouth as she speaks.  
“Please make an effort to park your mules effectively. There is a lot of room and I’m begging you to not block anyone in”  
Zayn pulled up beside the first mule, Liam’s whistled an awed “Wow” catching Zayn’s notice, but his boyfriend is gawking toward the front of them, where the supple hum of the waves meeting the shoreline calls to them. Zayn’s eyes scan the breathtaking view of a smooth, blue-greenish pastel surface of the rippling water. The sea bounced rhythmically with each mini-wave that was forced through it, epitomizing the chest movements of a peacefully sleeping human breathing gently.

“Fucking bitching SHIT CAH DONKA DONK!” and the incarnate sensations of the water before him were disrupted by the faux Australian squeal shouted by Megan.

“Liam! Zayn! This is no time to sit around! Kai Anna has let the beast out”

Tom took off with a dash, barefoot, boxers flopping about a little to flash his upper part of his thin, and dark plumber’s crack. Zayn pays no heed to him, the tranquil atmosphere of the beach’s intoxicating serenity overwhelming his senses. Liam and he can’t keep their eyes off of the glorious white sand as they get undressed.

Many from their group have already stripped out of what they didn’t want and ran off to the beach. Kai Anna is handing out towels, suntan lotion and large beach umbrellas. She was much better prepared for the trip than they had expected. Zayn isn’t exactly posing when he stands on the soft, almost melting sweetly beneath his slippers, white sand for the first time, his gaze fixated on the water, hands braced on his hips, lips pursed and eyes closed in idyllic meditation. Liam has the camera, taking three shots before Zayn becomes conscious that he’s being photographed.

“So? Gorgeous isn’t she?” Liam intertwines their fingers on impulse, joining his boyfriend in his ocean staring.  
“Absolutely” the word comes out on a contented sigh that has Liam’s stomach doing flip flops.

Snapping of out of his daze, Zayn turns to tell Liam about the Saipan condo but pauses when he meets Liam’s devoted gaze, his grin small and unadulterated. It makes Zayn feel even more cherished and suddenly it’s just them. The beach and everyone else is gone and he smiles mellifluously before it morphs into an endearing grin. He pumps Liam’s velvety hand 3 times, mouthing ‘I love you’ as he does so.

Placing a feathery kiss on Liam’s knuckles, they don’t talk when Zayn shrugs a shoulder toward the length of the beach, Liam merely allows Zayn to lead him by the hand. And he knows that everything was going to be alright. Liam laughs when he looks down and sees that Zayn’s wearing a Ben Ten boxer.

Written Montage of their adventure in Mustique

• Niall steps on a shellfish of sorts and gets his toe scrapped at Macaroni beach.

• Karaoke night at Basil’s Bar has Kai Anna doing a rendition of God made my life and Zac parodies the Sexy Back song.  
‘I’m bringing fancy back’  
‘Them straight boys don’t know how to act’

‘I think its special what inside my pack…’ being just some of the ludicrous lyrics sung.

The few bartenders that remained proved provident enough to not pass snide comments, although the expression on their faces during Zac’s enthusiastic performance spoke their true repugnance. With an audience consisting of mostly their friends they find that they can get away with being as loose as possible, therefore making overly gay performances less awkward than they should be when being viewed by strangers.

Gregory didn’t say much to them as opposed to staying beside his comrades at the bar, however, he did wave at them when they had first arrived. Harry and Liam team up with Jensen and Megan to sing Justin Bieber’s ‘One time’, with Harry wailing horribly on the sidelines while Megan took the lead in singing the verses, the boys joining her on the chorus, their voices blending as good as crushed gravel.

Being the more professional vocalists in the group, it doesn’t surprise Liam when there was a particular cheer from the crowd for the One Direction boys to perform. Of course Kyu fires out of his seat like a rocket, grabbing Zayn’s hand and endeavoring to haul Zayn from beside Liam. Zayn gives a premature resistance but he’s up on stage in no time. They do a mixture of songs, the first being a acoustic version of ‘Up all night’, ending with the upbeat choice of ‘Don’t turn off the lights’ by Enrique Egliesias, which seemed to have been Zayn’s song of choice and only Louis put up much resistance to it in terms of not knowing the song. They all had a pretty good time dancing to that one and although Liam could make out a couple of media officials recording the event and looking thoughtful, he found that he couldn’t be bothered in anyway at the moment.

When it was over Zayn remains on stage, locking fervent eyes with Liam, as he maneuvers the microphone stand in front of him properly.

Liam just smiles encouraging, beaming in anxiety as he wonders what Zayn is going to do.

“Well” he clears his throat, “I uh, started writing this song, and I was uh, saving it…yeah. Saving it for, well, a special occasions but I was, uh watching the sky just now while Louis was humping my side-“, a loud ‘Whoo!’ is yelled by said person. Zayn laughs shortly, looking down, his left hand clenched around the mic. “As I was saying, I was watching the sky and all and” suddenly he switches to English and announces proudly, “…and I must say that Mustique is quite a beautiful place”  
Applauses erupted, a few random wolf whistles for fun.  
Zayn’s smile is nostalgic, and he returns to speaking in Korean “The beach. Yeah, that was fun today huh? And yeah, I was watching the sky just now and I thought, wow, it’s really-pretty tonight”

“So are you Zayn!” someone calls appreciatively from the audience. Zayn nods a curt thank you at her, his eyes returning to Liam’s immediately afterwards.

“And then I thought, this is it. This is the right moment and all I have to say now is” he stretches a hand toward Liam, ignoring the sharp huffs from the bar area, “I love this man right here”

“AMEN!” Megan claps.

“Shut up Meg” Liam barks, his cheeks flushed delightfully, and then coyly he glances back at Zayn, indicating pleasantly for Zayn to continue.

The man on stage laughs throatily, bending his head.

“Enough talk for now though. Kai Anna, if you please”

Liam watches in fascination as Kai Anna leaves the bar, returning almost too quickly carrying a polished, wooden guitar that was bejeweled with the green and brown gems which outlined the shape of it. Liam’s eyes sting with tears when he recognizes the instrument instantly, its Zayn’s old guitar from their Christmas holidays. The other man had been clueless as to what to get Zayn for Christmas that year and knowing the other man’s taste for music he had chosen to get him a guitar.

After purchasing the gift he had had to push it harshly into the back of their closet in order to preserve the element of surprise when Zayn came strolling into the bedroom to ask what he wanted for dinner. When Liam checked on it again it had a few but very visible chipped edges. He then had brought himself and Zayn a ticket to Hawaii for the New year as a means of replacing his other present.  
Zayn had found it while scavenging in the closet for his jacket and Liam had explained to him what had happened. Zayn had grinned charmingly, kissing Liam promptly on the lips before pressing his plump lips to the tip of the guitar’s handle. ‘It’s perfect’

Liam had been the one to buy the bejeweled gems, choosing green and brown because to him they represented the colors of Zayn’s favorite color and Zayn’s eyes.

“I can’t believe you brought it with you” is the only thing that comes from Liam’s mouth, his eyes following the guitar. He knew Zayn still had it in mint condition, and that he had been practicing on and off but to bring it all the way to Mustique…

“It’s what I use to practice songs that you inspire me to write” he thanks Kai Anna, taking hold of the instrument. When he braces it appropriately, eyes scanning the mic to ensure its proximity and height are perfect, and then there’s the loving devotion and heavenly happiness that is etched so deeply in Liam’s face that they steals Zayn’s train of thought.

He doesn’t know how long he’s stood there but watching Liam and feeling the comfort within the weight and warmth of the guitar in his hands has him smiling dreamily. He lets a finger trace their entwined signatures that is written in black marker on the surface of the guitar. The guitar itself is special to him in more ways than one. He has a connection with it that keeps him motivated and readily secure. It’s like having Liam at his side, leaning supportively against him as he performs. He doesn’t use the guitar regularly per se, but the approximate number of times he does, he gets jolt of passion so high that never cease to amaze him. No one else deserves to see him in such a dazed zone of endearment and enthusiasm. There are just some things you need to keep between you and your lover.

“I wrote this song, while I was in a…well, more than happy mood and so it’s more of a long verse and a bridge” he winks at Liam, the other man laughing at the private innuendo within the words.

“It is entitled, ‘A ballad to his…” he bites back a laugh at the title he had come up with on a whim just three days ago, “Height”

A lot of ‘Ooo’s and ‘Ahhs’ fill the air. Zayn is too engrossed in watching Liam laugh silently too even be bothered with what anyone else is thinking. Then he says, “A ballad to Liam” which invokes even more theatrical hoots.

He plays three cords or so, and then launches into a slight resemblance of the intro for ‘Last first kiss’. The audiences’ recognition is immediate, Zayn stops, drumming his hand on the guitar loudly, laughing as he does so. Liam has his head thrown back in laughter, his knee jerking upwards as he embraces the hilarity.

When Zayn strums the strings again, Liam angles his head better, a wide grin on his face. An upbeat rhythm is played, Zayn’s head lulled closely to the guitar as he ensures that he’s getting the correct pace he needs. Nodding in satisfaction at his himself he stretches his neck the short distance to the microphone and sings, his voice a cool, revitalizing breath of country melody.

You think it’s creepy  
But I know it turns you on  
I wonder briefly  
How we even lasted long

You drive me crazy  
You're such a child sometime  
Your friends may hate me  
But they can't take what’s mine

You've got some talents  
I've got some uses  
I know I love you  
You're still a nuisance

But let me tell you  
I love your sexy eyes  
But when I really put everything together  
There's nothing of you I despise

Your smile, lights up the room around us  
Your laugh drowns out their sounds of disgust  
They just can't seem to understand  
Liam, I love your legs, man’ he ends with a goofy high pitch squeal purposefully.  
He strums loudly on the guitar, stopping at the particular cord, his and Liam’s eyes burning intensely at each other. Zayn turns back to his singing, his right hand picking up the rhythmical swiftness that gets the guitar to purr harmoniously.

The rest of the night is a blur of kisses, hugs and beers.  
• They return to the Pink House and purchase 12 different styles of clothing that they hoped would fit the girls.

• A speed boat transports Louis, Liam, Zayn, Harry and Megan to the mainland. They arrive in less than 20 minutes and are given a brief tour by one of Kai Anna’s mainland coworkers. . He in turn brought along a muscular Bajan bodyguard who accompanied them on their sightseeing.

Kayshorn Williams was a very handsome man in his early twenties and he flirted with Megan at every turn. She didn’t do anything to lead him on but she didn’t do anything to prevent his infatuation either.

In the Botanical Gardens Liam found himself being chased by Harry and Louis, who were just after his lucky charms. In reality though, Liam had stolen Louis’s last three KFC wings and had taken the top bun of Harry’s subway sandwich. They couldn’t keep up with him due to the advantage his long legs provided and chose to harass Zayn, who immediately attempted to fight off all food-ninjas who tried to take his 5lb bag of recently bought gummy worms. But eventually he is duped and his snack is stolen.

Holding it hostage had been a bad idea and Harry had found himself being chased instead with Zayn’s even longer legs and rabid look it didn’t take long before the Super Junior leader attempted defeat. But that didn’t save him from Zayn’s wedgie. Liam ate his gummies in peace after that, smacking his lips in satisfaction for both his treat and his revenge.

The Montreal gardens had been even better and although St Vincent had a struggling economy as said by Kayshorn, they had some of the biggest buildings and attractive vegetation to make up for what they lacked monetarily. Souvenirs were easy to find and a surprising number of the public seemed to recognize them instantly when they were on foot passing through the town area.

Megan was approached the most by both guys and girls, probably because she was on MTV for her latest movie trailer. Three girls spoke to Zayn and Liam, squealing about Supernatural sightings and One Direction before asking for autographs.

“Hello? Did you sing..um, sorry, Jonas Brother’s right?” a woman who appeared to be in her late thirties had asked. When they denied in confusion she shakes her head, giving them a small smile before pulling out a camera phone.

“You’re from that uh, show right?” she addresses the both of them.

“I do not who you think we…”

“Anyways my daughters, they, they were big fans of that Gangnam dance. She is such a weird 19 year old. Always talking about going to England and Japan, or whatever, to stalk you, God, what youtube does to my children I will never understand. Could I get a picture for them please?”  
They don’t question her but agree to be photographed with her standing in the middle. Harry does the honors of capturing their images. She pays Harry 10 EC dollars out of courtesy but the men just laugh at the irony. They look for souvenirs after that, buying what caught their fancy.

• Liam and Zayn get called ‘Batty men’ by a passing worker in Mustique and Kai Anna explains that it is a humiliating term for gay people. They let it slide. Liam settles to say, ‘We can’t win them all’

• Levithian doesn’t call; they continue to explore the island without the valued company of Yendal and Chadwho are up to their necks in making arrangements.

• Harry vomits up the Callalou soup he had tried for dinner. Zayn vomits from hearing Harry puke.

• Liam and Zayn spend a day at Rosa Dei Venti, able to rent the Villa for two days thanks to the friendly staff. Learning the right directions and having access to a mule allows Liam to fuck Zayn sweetly and slowly into the squishy sand of Macaroni beach the first night of their stay at the Villa.

They make out heavily in the enormous pool of Rosa Dei Venti the next afternoon.

• They watch their sex tape, passing commentary on the pros and cons. Zayn accuses Liam of flexing his arm muscles too much. Liam doesn’t retort immediately, eyes wide and his face red from embarrassment, when he sees the zoom of the camera on his dark pink stretched anal cavity around Zayn’s thickly buried cock. He punches Zayn in the arm, “You did that on purpose!”  
Zayn doesn’t complain, the view is just as good in HD. They hadn’t been expecting a visitor and therefore when Niall bursts into their room, they find themselves fumbling for the remote while Niall gets a good glimpse of Liam in a very revealing position.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” Zayn asks inhospitably, trying to cover his erection. Liam is bristling about on the sofa, caught between really turned on and fuming.

Niall holds up his hands in defense, his eyes finally straying away from the frozen frame of Liam’s unwavering hardened cock.

“I was just checking to see if you guys wanted to go to the bar with me and Harry”

“And you couldn’t knock!” Liam finally speaks up, his tone stressed.

Niall gives a ‘How was I supposed to know’ shrug. He turns to leave but then stops on his way to the door,

“The camera adds ten pounds” he says simply, pointing to the sultry image of Liam’s beautifully thick groin.

Liam is quick to retort, “And real life subtracts 5 inches off yours” with the additional blowing of raspberries.

Zayn chooses to propose right after they watch the sexual documentary as they settle into the bedroom. Liam is in mid laugh about something and Zayn finds his eyes glued to the other’s man face as he says seriously, “Marry me”. It doesn’t come out in the form of a question but he doesn’t think it’s the grammatical tense that has Liam’s eyes bulging out of his head as he scrambles up into a seating position in order to stare at Zayn comically.  
Not bothered one bit by Liam’s initial reaction Zayn follows up his proposal with a straightforward ‘I love you’. When Liam still doesn’t answer Zayn sits up, gently cajoling the other man’s fingers into his hands. ‘Liam, I know I told you that I wanted to wait until we wrapped all this Tavron publicity mess up but I also know that I’ve wanted to say yes both times you asked and I foolishly let this…” he searches for a word, “-scandal block my better judgment.”

Finding his voice, Liam mutters a throaty, “Zayn”

“And you know what I think; I think it’s time we leave everything in God’s and our Agents capable hands. They’ve both bought us this far collectively but what we’ve found in each other, I can’t push that aside any longer. I would love to take that next step with you. I want to concentrate more on us, more on you.”

“-you are”

“Enough excuses; Both from me and from you. I love you, Liam, with all my heart and…well, and most of my penis”

Liam eyebrows twitch at the added humor, “Most of it?”

Rolling his eyes Zayn continues, “I’ve been a terrible boyfriend but I promise to make it up to you every-single-day as your husband.” Dragging his body off of the bed, Zayn allows Liam to ease forward until he was sitting at the edge of the bed with Zayn kneeling between his spread knees.

“So. Liam Payne, with your smile and curls so right, won’t you be my husband tonight”

Liam sniffles, Zayn’s smile gets smaller, more nurturing, he reaches out to brush his thumb and fingers over Liam’s left cheek, cupping it lovingly with his palm when he feels Liam nudge the side of his face against his hand. “I’ve been my share of an ass too Zayn. And- Oh my GOD YES!”

Zayn releases a distressed ‘Ouph!’ when Liam drops onto his bent knees, the two falling over onto the flooring. The excited howl was to be expected, they lie facing each other on their sides, and Liam swings a long leg over Zayn’s waist, his lengthy fingers toying adorably with the buttons of Zayn’s shirt.

“I love you. I love this” Liam releases the hold on his shirt to grab Zayn’s face, planting a joyous kiss on the plump cushiony flesh.  
“My God. This is the best vacation of my life” Liam actually punches his fist into the air in vivaciousness, the enormous grin stretching and tugging at the skin of his face, each small crease and fold a sign of Liam’s astonishing aging beauty and a remainder than he got to spend the rest of his life watching each line become beautifully permanent, leaving defined trails for him to kiss when they made love and trace with his fingertips when they lay in bed together, talking, laughing or even just for admiration sake when he’s watching Liam sleep. There wasn’t anyone perfect, not on this spiteful planet but in that moment he thinks that true perfection is in loving the flaws.

“The DVD got me aroused but now I’m downright horny for some premarital sex” Liam admits, launching himself at Zayn like a hungry feline.

“I wanna fuck you so bad” Liam tells him, his voice leaking verbal lust. Zayn allows himself to be manhandled back onto the bed, loving the way Liam’s hot hands push up his shirt to rub his bare stomach. Liam climbs on him, whimpering blisteringly with burning passion as he grinds his boxer covered crotch onto Zayn’s thigh.

“Fuck me” Zayn had been sure the words had come from him but Liam has stilled all movement causing Zayn to open his eyes. Liam is looking at the ceiling, his chin jutted forward and head tilted as he contemplated something. Thinking that it might be about his sudden proposal Zayn calls to him.

“Liam, are you okay?”

Liam makes a whining sound in his throat, falling forward to brace his palms on Zayn’s chest.

“I want to make love to you”

Zayn has no problem with that at all and settles relaxingly into the beddings.

“But I want to feel you inside me too” Liam sounds frustrated. Overly horny and too damn conflicted. Zayn reaches up and grabs the older man’s face between his palms.

“I spoil you too much with all these privileges”  
XXX

Levithan finally calls. The meeting is set for 10 a.m. of that morning. The man is currently being housed at Yemanja Villa and sounds apprehensive for them to be on time.

They are seated in a large dining area that has been switched around to look like a formal conference room, a broad sheet of white paper in front of them, and a projector on a nearby desk to their left. When Levithian arrives Yendal looks ready to make a citizen’s arrest, however, remains completely professional.

The scruffy yet girly looking man is holding a DVD case rather than the actual film. Yendal questions him about the film’s whereabouts first. Her tone edgy yet firm. Davis waves her off indifferently. Opening the DVD case with snap, he lifts the rounded object with a pristine clasp around its edges, as if it were made out of glass. Zayn can barely make out the image that has been printed unto the exterior of the disc but doesn’t worry about it too much. The DVD is inserted into a simple laptop, afterward Levithian’s angular fingers tap at the keys; swirl on the mouse pad then reaches over to click a button on the projector.

Before the movie starts, they all listen to Levithian apologize impenitently, claiming that he had no choice but to take the movie. He explains that he had been working on an extraordinary development that would change the way people watched movies for ever.

“3D’s already been invented dickwad” someone from the crew mocks. That person is effectively thrown out by the appearance of two huge bodyguards, who waste no time in reacting when they spot Davis’ displeased scowl. With no more smartass comments, Levithian does not go into detail of what his project was but states that it was necessary.

“Why Tavron?” Yendal is pressed to ask.

“Because I think it’s going to start a trend and maybe Asian film adaptation”

“You do know that there is already a film adaptation of tall blue people right, it’s called Avatar and Tavron is just a parody of sorts!” Chad states matter-of-factly.

“And what would you know about that Mr. Poopie-pants” No one who wants to watch the movie comments on Levithian’s ridiculous comeback. The movie has no titles, and it begins from where it’s supposed to.  
Immediately Zayn is blown away by the cleanliness of the film and he knows exactly when Liam’s breath is stolen by its sturdy definition of graphics and well televised CGI, leaving them both to gasp together, followed shortly by the others in the room. The film was being displayed in surround sound but that wasn’t the most interesting aspect. It was being shown like a holographic image off the large projector screen, giving it an almost 3 dimensional screening.  
None of them were wearing 3D glasses but yet the images of the war taking place on screen appeared to be roughly a touch away. Those in front, including Liam and Zayn slouched forward to stroke at the presentation but merely broke the gathered pixels a part for a while. It was like one of those futuristic films, the technology of ‘the future’ taking place before their eyes.

“H-how, what, h-how did you manage…this, that-huh?” Liam gapes, Yendal was never speechless. The woman always knew just what to say or do and to see her flustered had Liam flicking his awareness from the movie to her. Levithian pauses the movie, explaining that the film itself was not the holographic source but he had invented a disc that would refract the light from any drive or playing unit that it is in and the NANO technology on the disk will expand as the disc begins to spin, thus giving the image written on the disc depth and mass. He succinctly launches into some scientific mumbo jumbo, Yendal taking notes and is asking all sorts of questions before finally the movie was resumed.

 

“Dad! You can’t expect me to go on this, this SUICIDE mission! The Omaticayans, they, they don’t like us much and disturbing them is not going to make them like us more” the on-screen Liam is barking at his father, Troy, who is played by Jensen, a well know veteran actor who didn’t make the trip with them. Liam’s character, Michael is wearing a very tight pencil foot pants that hung just under his hips, the oversized white and black goth t-shirt is drooping with ceases as he wrings his hands in it. Michael’s hair is a golden blonde, the length ruffled with small scattered spikes standing on edge. He’s wearing so much makeup in this scene that he looks 17 again.

“Michael, son, we have been planning this treaty for years now, ever since the first war. Their homeland will be safe from all human interferences once we get our treaty to them.” Troy turns his back to his very annoyed son, scrubbing his face with his palms, “This will not be an easy mission my boy-“

Michael rolls his eyes and Liam thinks that he likes the way his character looks as a holographic image. The camera is focused on his body language and verbal declarations, the touchable imagery of himself appearing all the more flattering. However, he still scrunches up his nose whenever he concentrates on the fact that he’s wearing such overly tight skinny jeans! Damn, they were his worst wardrobe selection ever. Back on screen, Michael says, “Well duh! That’s why you shouldn’t let me go…”

Troy whirls on his son; his face the perfection of sternness, mouth scowling fiercely, messy white hair looked as haggard and desperate as he sounds. “You think I don’t know that! You think I want to send you!” he yells fiercely, grabbing Michael by the shoulders. Their eyes search each other for a moment, and then Troy pulls his adamant son into a tight hug.

“I know that you are not exactly an Omaticayan activist but…” his father sighs depressively, “But I need to send someone I can trust to deliver this treaty. That is why I, I had an Avatar made for you last year” The look on Michael’s face is one of pure shock.  
{{{{{{}}}}}}}}}  
“These people are crazy!” Dylan’s character, Shane (AKA Shanty), yells at Michael. The two are cowering behind a white minivan taxi. They need to make it unto the military copter without being shot by the Anti-Omaticayan club (Not really their name but it’s what they present) since they sort blue tribal destruction.  
The current weapon-bearing humans are against the treaty with the Omaticayans, voting to merely rob the planet of its wealth and kill every single member of the blue race.

“Here take this” the gothic looking man, that Michael appears to be, offers up a small pistol from his jacket pocket.

Shane takes one look at the gun he’s holding and laughs sarcastically, “What the hell kind of gun is this?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at his long time best friend.  
The other boy shrugs sharply, not in the mood to be mocked, “The kind that says that I wasn’t expecting THIS MANY ENEMIES THIS EARLY IN THE MORNING!” he proceeds to yell in frustration over the sound of gun shots hitting the metal of the van, some ricocheting off the ground, the empty shells falling with soft clinks and clangs.  
{{{{}}}}  
Michael wakes up in his Avatar and Zayn’s feels his breath catch in his throat. The 4D outcome was awe-inspiring. The cool shades of cadenced blue that spiraled along the creatures body was eye opening not to mention very creative. The Avatars face looked exactly like their human counterparts, except for the long dark chocolate hair that cascaded down their backs in thin ponytails.  
During this scene Liam feels Zayn squeeze his left hand appreciatively, smiling at the other man before saying, “You look hot”. It’s the first time Tom, Zac and Dylan are seeing their completed Avatar selves and the loud whooping and overall clapping had spurned from their uncontainable excitement at how beautiful and exotic everything had turned out to be.

“Fucking hell. Check out the abs on Dylan!”

Meeting Tavron for the first time is a very intense scene. Zac Efron’s character, CockyFish (which is the nickname his character bears in the movie) is startled by a beast in the forest, his initial reaction to shoot first. Michael pushes CockyFish’s gun downward, stating firmly that no one should shoot anything unless it poses an immediate threat to them. Joey (Tom’s character) nods, explaining that this was not the time or place to make enemies so soon. A few more minutes in a large prehistoric orange and gray bird is spotted flying overhead. Joey is the first to notice that its eyes flash red as it continuously circles the area above their heads, its neck elongated as those sharp, predatory eyes fix themselves on the travelling group.

“Shit” Joey fumbles for his gun, urging non-verbally for his teammates to do the same. Michael barely manages to aim his gun at the creature before he recalls the updates he read back at the lab about what had happened to the a minority of the wild life on this world after the Military had taken evasive action against the Omaticayans. As a result of consuming the bodies of dead Omaticayans, some of the strange beasts had developed a predominant taste for flesh and it looked like they’d just found their first enemy.

“I hope you brought a bigger gun this time” Shane, who’s eyes keep the bird in sight, continues to poke fun at Michael, even in a situation as dire as this. Fortunately, his teasing best friend helps to lighten the mood a bit and Michael finds himself smirking cockily. “You’d be surprised how big”

Cockyfish is recovering from the heavy blow he’d gotten from the fighting devil bird when he hears the thing shriek in abandon, gun shots ringing in unison with its brawls of demise. He’s grinning lousily, his landing from the blow cushioned only by a dusty red and yellow flower pollen that is as large as his kitchen back home. He’s sneezing, trying to get his long legs to cooperate in order to stand but begins to feel woozy, plopping back down harshly on his bum.

“Aw man! This is when I have to leave!” Zac bitches from the crowd, interrupting Tom’s on-screen avatar dialogue with Cockyfish.

Joey confirms that CockyFish’s avatar has been poisoned ridiculously. Ironically the venom wasn’t from the creature that had flung him aside as if he was but from the cushy pollen grain that had softened his landing. Cockyfish has saddened eyes that droop occasionally as the poison spends quickly. Blake Lively’s character, Kelly, salutes her friend, all their faces serious as Cockyfish does a sloppy salute back at them.

“See ya at the base, soldier” Shane states. When Cockyfish eventually passes, his Avatar’s eyes closed in a pleasant sleep, Joey mutters on his breath disappointedly. Michael is quiet, too quiet and his eyes haven’t left his fallen comrades body. He can hear Shane and Kelly prodding ruthlessly at the dead creature behind him but he’s not bothered enough to care. They weren’t even half way in yet and already they had lost a member of their already too small group. He grips the sturdy strap of his bag, knowing that within it lay the help this planet needed in order to build a stronger foundation for itself once more. The treaty will grant them freedom from all human interference and create equal bonds between the two. However, before he handed over the treaty to them, he had to get it permanently enchanted in order to remain completely binding with effective consequences if broken.

They don’t get far from the corpse of the creature when they’re ambushed by rogue avatars. These men are dismissed military cooperatives who refused to join forces with what his father stood for. They wanted free reign over this planet and saw the treaty as a devastating threat to their prosperous way of life. They knew how to handle themselves on the planet and therefore had an advantage to being better prepared for combat than Michael’s half-assed team.

“I would’ve thought you all would be dead by now” the bulky avatar addressed them with a sneer. He is dressed like Michael’s team, in custom made human militia camouflage clothes, dog tags and all.

“You are not supposed to be here Sergeant Winslow” Joey grits his teeth, eyeing the surrounding group of avatars. They are much bulkier than they’re supposed to be and he suspects that they’ve been experimenting, so he decides to ask.

Winslow laughs; his voice deep and dark, two qualities that practically labeled him villain number 1.

“Ever heard of injecting steroids into the avatar embryos, Joe? I bet Augustine did”

At the mention of his former idols name Joey looks ready to skin someone. Michael is looking at Shane when he receives the first blow to his stomach sending him to his knees in shock.

 

Liam wonders where Zayn gets popcorn from, his eyes leaving the splendid imagery being displayed fleetingly. Zayn chivalrously offers him the bowl, his mouth stuffed to the brim with the buttery delicacy. He takes Liam’s hand, the sounds of the movie blurring into the background. Liam stares at his face, watching as Zayn brings his large palm to those fleshy, pouts, gently kissing the knuckle of his bare ring finger, his soon-to-be pretty much occupied finger.

Liam uses his free hand to stroke the index of Zayn’s ring and the soft pad of skin between the fingers. He had carried the ring with him ever since he bought it; refusing to leave it anywhere he could not keep an eye on it. Now, it was where it belonged, nestled firmly on whom it deserved to be on. He had had it engraved with a simply ‘I love you’ and their initials during their split. Zayn couldn’t wait any less than Liam for the moment when he slipped Liam’s newly bought engagement ring on his currently nude finger. He had no clue where he was going to shop for it just yet but always spent an extra hour or so after Liam fell asleep to raid the net.

Zayn suddenly sits up straighter, his head turned toward the movie and Liam observes the grin that cracks his face. He doesn’t need to hear Zayn’s “OH MY GOD I’M FINALLY HERE!”, to know that Tavron has made an entrance. He turns slowly, hearing the yelps of the on-screen military bad guys as they are fought with. A low whistle escapes him as he turns in time to see the camera focus on Tavron’s stance.

Zayn admires Tavron, his build is sleeker than his own but the graphic designers had done wonders to make him look like a wild yet mysterious young puppy. His dark eyes glow golden honey and the tribal hairstyle of the Omaticayans suits him exceptionally well. Tavron has Zayn’s subtle yet muscularly indented curves, however, unlike Zayn’s whose curved torso is a natural and sexy outline made by smooth muscle, his hipbones jutting out from under flawless lightly tanned skin, ending the inward curl at the sides of his abdomen.

Tavron’s torso is much longer than Zay’s and therefore his shape is less defined and over exhausted by an overextension of 20 extra inches of stomach. The loin cloth is quite endearing and Zayn finds himself leaning toward Liam to whisper dirty thoughts to him. Tavron’s legs are remarkable, even though they’re blue, a tad stingy looking and covered in ancestral war paint. Once again it seems that the entire room is blown away by the digital effects that went into the creation of this movie.  
Liam blushed furiously. His fiancé’s avatar was absolutely delicious. Levithian had really brought out Zayn’s erotic good looks strongly.  
**  
Shane and Tavron square off passionately. Joey has to pull Shane back while Michael manages to throw Tavron into a blue-ish red tinted bush, cursing under his breath that he hopes it’s not poisonous.

After being shoved in a bush Tavron shows that he is not to be ignored so easily, leaping onto Michael. In his native tongue he speaks demandingly but looks copiously confused. Lee’s Avatar translates and Tavron and he share words, the inhabitant climbing off of Michael slowly.

“Yes, I have been taught English by my parents”

“Good. Good” Joey burbles mostly to himself.

Tavron raises his knife again, suspicious. He had just killed the others who had been attacking these men and wasn’t sure whether or not he’d done the right thing. “They also told me to watch out for foreigners, and by your clothes I assume you are with the Military”

“Look kid” Shane starts. Tavron whirls on him quickly, the sharp tip of his knife facing the soldier’s vaguely covered neck.

“Kid? I am not a child to you, human. You do not come to my world and address me as such”

When things cool down Joey explains the situation and Michael has a mild panic attack. He’s not used to being pursued with his life at risk every 15 minutes. He’s just a young man whose father just happened to have some sort of hero complex set out for his son to follow.

“Then why come?” Tavron asks, understanding their mission and why it would be a complicated one. His people were trying to build back their home but yet every time they got to some sort of accomplishment they’d be raided by Military men who sort wealth and fame from the offerings of their land. Offerings that were needed for them to establish the peace they once had. His fists clenches at his side, he nods to himself, thinking of his father and the stories he’s been told as a child. He would help them complete this task and after all the humans are forced to leave then they’ll have serenity once more.

“Why come?” Michael huffs out a laugh. “I came because I was forced into it! You think I care that your people are suffering. For God sakes you’ve been suffering since I was 3 years old! This, this war, it’s not mine to fight.” He flings his hands up in exasperation, “I-I am going to die eventually out here. And this” he grabs the bag from off of his shoulder and tosses it angrily to the damp forest ground. “This is just some crappy piece of paper that I’m risking my life for!”

He ignores Kelly’s protest, turning away to scan the forest, his breathing heavy and very annoying. Shane moves to pick up the bag but Tavron has it in his grasp before he could reach it. A loud swooshing sound is the only warning Michael gets before his head is smacked hard with the weight of his bag. He tumbles to the side, catching the bag on a whim before steadying himself. It stings but not as much as Tavron’s words.

“You think I care that you are suffering. We’ve been suffering since I was a child. And if nothing else, this is my planet and that makes this war, my war” he throws a look at Joey over his shoulder, “The Haran Gypsies are too the North-east of my village. Follow me”  
*****

“Yo, blue idiot!” Shane calls, both Joey and Kelly sending him warning looks. Tavron is propped up on a high tree branch, his predatory gaze sharp as he scans for food. They have to get the treaty to the gypsies as soon as possible but without food their strength levels in the bodies are being reduced. Due to the war the forest has taken on a form of evolution over the years, protecting itself from danger by inducing itself with defensive mechanisms.

The creatures, which were once tamed and no threat had developed short aggression levels. They were lucky to only have encountered one deadly beast so far. Michael whined deliberately, him and Tavron throwing insults back and forth whenever they could. Whenever Michael appeared too withdrawn, his thoughts pending on what could happen, Tavron was quick to challenge him.

“Do your parents know you kill human hunters and rescue supposed enemies?” they are up one night late, just staring at the heavily decorated sky when Michael asks this.

Tavron shifts his gaze unto the other man, then back to the sky, “My parents know that I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my home. They’ve raised me well enough to trust my decisions. I’m not about to sit back and let these greedy thieves destroy what took my people centuries to build”

“Well you’re right in one thing” Michael states shortly, glancing in the dark to make out the sleeping forms of Kelly, Joey and Shane. When he averts his eyes back to his new friend he finds bright golden eyes visibly staring back at him.

“Right, about what?”

Michael doesn’t answer for a moment. Shaking his head in silent laughter when he realizes where his thoughts are going. Even though the forest is darkened extremely by the light he can picture the angle of Tavron’s confused tilt of the head, his tall body slumped forward as he waits for Michael to answer.

“You. You are definitely not a kid”

 

“Kiss me, or your friend dies” Megan’s seductive character, Emoral, says.

Megan can be heard huffing from her seat,  
“This holograph stint makes me look funny”. The movie is still pretty far from the end, and they’re almost at the Haran caravans. Chanley is with them now, his avatar character, named Adalpha (Ah-dal-fah), sticking close to Tavron as he continues to guard the other boy as a request made by Tavron’s parents. So far Zayn has met with Jake and Neytiri, Tavron’s parents who had survived the first war but appeared down spirited that they still weren’t achieving the calm surroundings they longed for. Jake used to be a part of the Military but gave his life over to the Omaticayans to become one of them permanently.

Michael finds himself screwing up his face bit. He would never want to remain on his godforsaken planet, looking like cross between a ferret, a giant and a blueberry. Tavron is running past them during Jake and Michael’s conversation and Michael finds himself smiling at the energetic boy who proceeds to brush off Neytiri’s mothering flaunt.

Now they’re on a very high mountain, talking to a seductive map bearer who holds the entry way of the Haran gypsies. Shane opts to shoot her at first but gets an elbow to the face and his ponytail is being held tightly in her crawled grip. All she wants is a kiss from Michael, wanting to taste the artificial flavoring of his shell she claims. Michael is none too angry with having to kiss the strong woman.  
She’s not ugly but according to Tavron, who stops him with a rigid hand, she’s not worthy of a kiss either. Emoral does not like being teased; setting her sights on Tavron when she realizes Michael is taking too long to decide. He doesn’t hesitate, going in for the kiss swiftly, the taste of her metallic tongue in his mouth sickening him instantly before he pulls away. Kelly pats the Na’vi on the back, thanking him for taking one for the team. Tavron spits unceremoniously before turning his attention back to Emoral.

 

Zayn stifles a chuckle, Michael’s showcase of stubbornness and pride is rather funny considering the state he’s in.

Via the dimensional display, a panting, Michael, who had just got his ass handed to him by Tavron, boldly declares, “Don’t make me kill you, Tavron”

He sounds like he’s been running a marathon while Tavron looks cool and collected. They’ve been sparring in this scene but Tavron has the upper hand in almost all of their fights. Michael continuously charges at the native, his movements predictable and feeble at best. Tavron notices this but doesn’t comment or tease. He knows never to let your opponents weaknesses blind you to the point where you become blinded by your own ego.

In his training he has learned that no matter how unorthodox or foreseeable his opponent’s attacks are, and no matter if he’s able to outsmart them at every turn, he will keep his focus on the primary defeat before declaring himself the victor. Michael may appear weary but he is still able to stand showing his determination. Therefore they will continue to fight until one of them admits defeat or is flat on his back, drained of all his potency.

Still, he had been extremely surprised when Michael took out both his legs with a swift kick to his knees. Landing on his bum, he stares up at the other man’s smirking face, seeing the proud glaze that has already filled his eyes. Tavron simply shakes his head, he uppercuts Michael in the stomach, the other man heaves forward just as Tavron leaps to his feet. He presses his palm to side of Michael’s head and shoves against it pushing the human sideways. Of course the distracted man loses balance quickly and thuds to ground still clutching his belly.

As Michael frails about, throwing a tantrum, Tavron looks at him seriously, his eyes studying the angled frame of the Avatar’s beautiful cyan and captivating features and Tavron finds that his tsaheylu that is resting against his hip startled him as it began to tingle slightly, sending shivers through his body. He understood the meaning of the tingles. It meant possible attraction.

“…Shane! Get me something sharp!” is what Tavron heard just before he’s tackled.

Zayn smiles amusedly. He remembers all the retakes they had had to do that day because he and Liam kept horsing around.

Levithian seems to have read his mind, saying, “Fuckers gave me my first grey hair that day”

The rest of the movie is the tragic love/hate/confusion story between Tavron and Michael. Tavron, who is strong-willed, driven and utterly loyal to his planet, is bashfully disoriented by his developing feelings for Michael, who is the complete opposite of everything he stands for. Michael represents disbelief and lack of faith, two things Tavron didn’t even want to consider. He’s never been attracted to another male, it is not exactly uncommon for his people but with all the drama that’s been happening he suspects that they have less time to worry about men having relationships with other men than they’re supposed to.

Michael is an enigma for Tavron. The other man lacks motivation and yet he’s able to motivate Tavron. He complains all the time and sometimes Tavron thinks that one night when Michael falls to sleep he’ll never reawaken because he has decided to stay out of his avatar form. He has threatened Joey and his friends, telling them that he’ll go to sleep, wake up in his ‘human’ body and never come back to ‘this stinking, rotting planet’.

Tavron hates it when he says such despicable things about his world but does his best to ignore them, knowing that Michael was lashing out because he was terrified half the time. He wonders what Michael looks like when he’s ‘Human’. His father has one picture of himself as a ‘human’ before his rebirth and Tavron wonders if Michael looks like that too. Do his legs not work? Is he forced to depend upon a steel vehicle to enable his movement like his father had?’

He tilts his head in confusion as he watches Michael patch up Shane’s arm.

“He’s still looking over here?” Shane grunts unimpressed that Tavron couldn’t keep his eyes off Michael. The tall freak was starting to piss him off something righteous.

Michael glances up from his mediocre work on bandaging Shane’s deep gash.

“Is he? I, I hadn’t noticed” Michael lies through his teeth. He’s guilty of throwing Tavron rather subtle looks whenever he can, avoiding the temptation to stare any longer than a second.

“Liar. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you two are around each other, Michael”  
Michael steels himself, he knows all about Shane’s prejudices and criticisms but has never been on the receiving end of one. He’s not attracted to Tavron.

“A man who stares at a woman in lust is guilty of committing the sin in his heart Michael” and Michael has to throw his head back and laugh at that one because…just because.  
However, Shane doesn’t find it funny.

“It’s disgusting, Michael. He looks like he’s ready to kiss you. Sodomy and all that jazz. Stop encouraging him; you never know what kind of rabies this guy may have. Faggot smurf”  
Michael had tuned out the scolding words, choosing instead to admire the way the darker cyan of Tavron’s tattoos seem to shimmer in the rays of the setting sun.

“Definitely going to be rated PG-13” Chad comments, jotting down some notes.

**  
By the time the movie ends Zayn is giving both it and Levithian (grudgingly) a standing ovation, his actions quickly followed by everyone else in the room. It broke his heart reading the ending of the script but seeing it all play out in the movie had him in restless sniffles. Even Liam was trying to laugh off the tear streaks running down his cheek.

Of course, Michael didn’t sacrifice himself to become an Omaticayan. He would never choose to remain on the planet not even for Tavron. They hadn’t even said a proper goodbye to each other.

When Michael’s intentions were revealed, that even after the treaty was signed and he and Tavron had shared a heartfelt hug, their four thin long fingers fiddling with each other before they intertwined completely, setting a mood for romance so strong that the room had become stifling humid all of a sudden, he was still not sticking around to live amongst these people, in this world he has no concern about. The adventure had been a great one but it wasn’t enough to convince him to stay. He missed home, missed the life he had for himself but returning would mean leaving Tavron and in the end he had chosen which one meant more to him.

Tavron had been torn, but had smiled watery despite of it, calling Michael a ‘Whiny kid’, then wishing him the best of luck and running off into the forest before Michael could say anything else. He had left with a battered and weary Joey and a limping Kelly at his side. His best friend, Shane, dead, after he had betrayed Michael, trying to steal the treaty in order to sell it over to the enemy. Michael’s avatar face is still frozen on the holographic screen, his eyes blank as they scan the distance from the helicopter back to the forest. No one knows what will happen. Maybe, just maybe he might’ve gone back if the movie hadn’t decided to freeze frame on his face.

Everyone is moving about, hugging each other and Zayn feels the tug on his arm before he’s pulled into a tight hug.

“We are not going to ‘take a break from each other’ EVER again” Zayn cannot agree faster.

EPILOGUE:  
This chapter features random clips at a fan-meeting. The *** signify a change of scene, meaning the boys are probably answering a different question at this point. 

 

Epilogue

“Welcome to the first in a long time Cadence fan meeting!” Niall announces happily, his voice quickly drowned out by the excited screams and applause. He gets them to calm down for a few minutes, saying “Now let’s welcome” the clapping starts up again and he raises a hand to quiet them.  
“Britain’s very own…”, he is interrupted by wolf whistles and screams and the crowd is on its feet. “Sweethearts…” screams echoed like thunder in the room. There were so many of them.

“PLEASEWELCOMELIAMANDZAYN” he has to say in one breath, allowing himself to go deaf by the sound of heavy applauds. He didn’t think they could get any louder but when he notices Liam is walking onto the stage with Zayn behind him he realizes that he can’t hear himself think anymore.  
Liam doesn’t pull any dance moves or karate action, but waves animatedly at the crowd, a breathless grin on his face. Zayn is waving also but is stopped by Niall who offers him a microphone. Liam throws himself onto the available plush lilac sofa that is positioned in the middle of the stage, patting the space between his spread legs for Zayn. His husband steps forward, holding out a cordless microphone that Liam readily accepts. He plops down purposefully on Liam’s foot that is taking up his side of the couch. Liam wiggles his foot from under Zayn, laughing all the while. The crowd waits, silent for the first time as everyone keeps their eyes on the two. Zayn is the first to notice the silence, turning to address the rather large audience.

“I remember back in the good old days, when such actions between me and him would’ve been a cause for applause!” he huffs, looking radically offended. This tears up the stillness, a loud chant beginning from the middle of the crowd and is quickly picked up by everyone else. They’re not saying Liam neither or they brawling Zayn at the top of their lungs but it humbles them both greatly that they are triumphantly declaring ‘ONE DIRECTION ZIAM!’

Liam stands, pumping a fist to the air while screaming ‘ONE DIRECTION’ in unison with crowd. Zayn hoots, declaring a loud ‘YEAH!’

Neither Liam nor Zayn can seem to not stop smiling after that. Just then Harry runs out on stage and the chanting stops, everyone just starts clapping and screaming again. Harry is bouncing on his heels toward them and Liam charges at him playfully causing the taller man to flee in a laughable fright. “I LOVE YOU ALL”, is the last thing Harry says before he disappears off stage, leaving a mess of screams and cries.

“Well that was uncalled for” Zayn says jokingly.

“Good morning fellow Directioners and Caddies and welcome to…” Liam leans over and stage whispers to Zayn ‘Where are we?’

“LONDON!! WHOOO” The gleeful crowd answers for him.

“That’s right kids” Liam says in his best school teacher tone.

“Well, you must be wondering why we’re here, taking up much of your time and space” Zayn asks rhetorically, sitting forward as he does so.

His eyes move back and forth across the audience, “But I told Liam last month that we should have…”

“Wait?” Liam interrupts him, his head turned to face Zayn. “You told me” he laughs as if the notion is too funny to ignore. “Zayn, I told you! So anyways…” he begins to speak to giggling audience when Zayn says,

“I told him that we needed to do a fan meet-“

“Because you know we didn’t have one for quite a long while because of the movie-“

“Right and I thought it would be a good”

“No, I thought it would be a good idea to invite everyone and all Korean cassies…”

“You know, because this is where it all started, right? ‘The birth”

“…place of One Direction?’” Liam completes the quote, poking his tongue at Zayn, who wiggles his eyebrows suggestively in return. The place is a loud mess by then.

“This meet is for you, the fans, to tell and ask us anything. We promised that if we could we would continue these fan-meets and I think because this right here” he points around the room, showcasing the crowd of directioners and caddies, “Is home to me and him. There’s nothing better than getting to know you guys and we thank you so much-“

“So much”, Liam chimes in, looking positively sincere as he touches his chest.

“For all your support in everything we did. And we’re sorry for any disappoints we might’ve caused, especially in our case where you just can’t stop who you love” Zayn offers Liam a small smile, then directs his attention back to the crowd, “Even if it’s 6 ft of annoyance”

Liam drops his forehead on Zayn’s shoulder, rubbing it against the material of the shirt briefly. The squeals are amazingly accepting and the next thing the two knew, camera flashes were going off like crazy, which wasn’t much of a surprise these days. There was a ‘no media devices’ rule and this time due to Yendal and Chad’s influence the rule was implemented fully, meaning anyone caught recording or taking pictures would be charged a fee and kicked out. Zayn and Liam had thought it would’ve been a little too harsh considering the fact that they knew their fans by now and taking pictures is what they do for Christ sakes. So there had been a ban on video recording only and for the sake of the convention, Zayn hoped no one attempted to be rebellious.

“So I have one question before we begin. Did we ruin fanfiction for you guys? I mean its cool when we’re not gay and you can make stuff up but what about now that we’re together did it spoil any of your fun?” Liam asks.

Zayn has his body facing Liam but his eyes keep flicking to the crowd to see their reaction to the question.

“Did you have to ask that?” Zayn says, holding the mic aside so that they can talk in private. Liam laughs, his microphone also being held at arm’s length when he says, “Well it’s been a while since I browsed the sites I need to catch up on my girls and fanboys”  
By then someone from the crowd is answering for her fellow women in Ziam fanfiction writing.

“Honestly, it might’ve inspired some of the great ones” her supporters clap, cheering her on as she proceeds to blush timidly. “You’ve both aged exceptionally well” she adds, totally straying off topic.

Liam looks at Zayn smugly, Zayn responds by beating his chest, proclaiming, “Us Brits know the secret to long, satisfying life” He assumes the loud shouts come from the British fans.

“Seriously though, thank you and we don’t exactly…” he looks at Liam, searching for a proper end to the sentence.  
Liam lifts his head, saying “We don’t try to be uh, stay so hot”

“When you have two children in the home you have to be as active as possible” Zayn states. At the faint mention of Cassie thrilled screeches erupt from the gathered fans. Zayn and Liam share an intimate look at each other, seeming to envision their beautiful one year old together.

“Is there another baby?” the girl who’s currently hogging the mike asks.

“Pardon me?” Liam who snaps out the trance first, clearly missed the question.

Zayn twists in her direction.

“Zayn just mentioned two, uh, two children?” she gets all tongue tied again now that they’re both focused on her.

“I think he meant himself as one of the children” Liam sends a knowing glare at Zayn, who just smiles back tauntingly, shrugging at the crowd.  
****

The audience is rejoicing heartily, clapping merrily as they gaze to the front. A large white display screen behind Zayn and Liam is currently hosting a picture of a much worn looking Zayn. He’s lying on a large bed that has a thick golden brown patterned duvet which is ceased outrageously beneath him. He’s smiling but anyone can see that it’s a tired smile. His eyes are barely open, silky lashes hovering protectively over his eyes. Messy brown spikes are scattered sleepily across the pillow, his plain white t-shirt wrinkled with a pink and green bath towel visible since it had been thrown over his right shoulder. One arm is thrown behind his head and the other lies above the resting form of a small infant. Their newborn lies perfect still in a bright yellow onesie, her sleeping face nuzzled into the cream colored blanket she’s laying on. Zayn is looking at the photographer with an expression that seems to say, ‘Another picture? Nooo!’

“This is Zayn after our first week. The delivery was pretty hard on him, wasn’t it babe?”

“Of course. Who can forget you wailing like a girl and squeezing my hand for the first 3 hours?”

Liam doesn’t reply to that, guffawing instead at his husband’s words.

“We thank our surrogate Inola for her, well for all the joy that she’s given us. Cassie was a healthy newborn, we had no complications with her and got to take her home immediately and for that we thank God”  
***  
“It feels good, I guess. I mean, we had no idea that Tavron was going to take on this new multimedia stance but we are humbled that we got the chance to make history for films everywhere”

Despite his current feelings, Zayn adds, “Let’s give a big hand for Levithian Davis”  
**  
“I have no idea why Davis would want to name a character Cockyfish. The reference escapes me”

Liam looks over to Zayn and they share a unified shrug.

“Why no happy ending romantic though?”, the male fan, who is currently holding the microphone, inquiries.

“I think what Davis was going for was, was well a break from the whole…uh hero stuck in trepidation finds true calling when he’s faced with a new challenge sort of thing. Not everyone is open to change. There are the stubborn few out there that refuse to mess with the way things were before and therefore tend to feel more comfortable within familiar surroundings. The thought of change threatens them and makes them even more rebellious towards it and that’s at least what I tried to bring in Michael’s character. From the beginning everyone can see that he not exactly the fastest adjustor to alterations within his physical neighboring and emotions. He uh, lashes out at Tavron’s planet many times because it’s a lot more different than earth and therefore he wants nothing to do with it. His feelings for Tavron mystify him and as if the movie was left up to Michael there would’ve been no treaty and less-to-no romance, gay or straight. So now we get a sort of cliché from Pocahantus (Cassie’s favorite movie, he adds in a whisper) of the determined native and the pitiful foreigner who claims he is there to help but can’t even help himself. So yeah, the happy ending although shocking and sad does kind of suit the nature of the portrayed characters. Michael wasn’t going to be a hero, Tavron was.”  
**  
“Yes, you're right. Cassie is actually her second name. We, uh, actually named her Dechen, it’s a Buddhist name which means Health and happiness”  
**  
Zayn laughs, almost tumbling forward out of the couch at the hilarity of the dare being made by a very hyperactive audience member. Liam looks stumped, his grin going from big and curious to small and wary, a faint brush of pink sweeping his cheeks.

"You want him to talk like a Jamaican?" Zayn asks rhetorically, grinning devilishly before turning to give Liam two thumbs up. He'd been witness to Liam's terrible imitation of the island's accent before but the memory never got boring. Now, it’s been at least a year and some since he last heard Liam say a disturbingly obscene "Dis is my real boyfriend from long time" and he had laughed so much he'd practically peed himself a little.

"You want me to say it in front of all these people?" Zayn sits forward, allowing Liam to squeeze his head in the small space between the couch and his back. Watching his embarrassed husband shy away from the dare, Zayn remembers Gregory saying something to Kai Anna during Karaoke night at Basil’s and in an attempt to draw the stares and giggles away from Liam, he says

"Leave my wifey alone" in the best broad dialect he could manage and this tore everyone up instantly. He's blushing unconsciously and can feel Liam's laughter sending shakes through his body as the other man buries his face into Zayn's back.  
**  
"Huh? So, wait a minute, you mean Edward and Jacob weren't brothers when they fought over Bella?" Liam leans forward, conversing with both the shouting crowd and the man holding the microphone.

"So what the heck is the Vampire Diaries based on then?"

Zayn looks startled when he says, “There’s a book?”

His husband slaps his knee, “I remember uh,” he gives Zayn a look, then addresses the crowd again, “The Supenatural sightings producer and writers asking us if we’d like to you know, uh incorporate a bit of Vampire themes into the movie, basically to come on set and put together a vampire plot with some other actor portraying the undead characters.”

“The Supernatural Diaries” Zayn gives both the crowd and Liam an expressive look.

“Of course it never happened” he adds, seeing as Liam and the fans were too caught up in their laughter.

Liam snorts bemusedly at one particular reply he hears, "They don’t look anything like they did in Supernatural sightings"

Zayn raises an eyebrow at him. "One short, brooding emo and one tall, dark, floppy haired man" someone else has the mike, a male, and he explains to Zayn the slight resemblance between Ziam and two other actors creating the Supernatural sightings sequel.

Liam just grins knowingly, pointing to himself then says, "Obviously the tall, floppy haired man is me"  
**  
“Tom Welling, Smallville, hm, he’s a super cool guy, very down to earth and I for one enjoyed working with him”

“Oh my God, he’s so hot” Liam pretends to fan himself. It seems those who thought the same of the Big Bang charismatic vocalist cheered their agreement. Laughing mildly, Zayn brings the mike to his mouth once more,

“And Zac Efron, Zac Efron although he was there on set for like…3, minutes, we got to spend a whole lot of time with him after the movie” The question that was asked wants them to describe their experience working with the cast of Tavron on or off set while adjusting to what their roles needed of them. Both of them know not to mention what transpired in Mustique. Most of it has been a well-kept secret so far, most of the material gathered by the media officials on the island had been raided and inspected so that nothing major made headlines, and no one is really in much of a hurry to spill the beans.

Liam is commenting on his interactions with Levithian, basically painting the guy as some kind of buddy, which was far cry from the actual douche-face he was.

“Well for me, I had to spend a lot of time whining, which is a first for me and I thought Michael was a complete turd. Even while I was reading the script I would be like…” He leans towards Liam, “Hey, you want to switch characters?’ So, adjusting myself to suit Michael’s personality was…tiring”

Liam perks up with a, “I love Tavron” Conformity from the crowd purges him on, “I thought to myself, wow, I think this is the strongest most patriotic character I’ve ever had the chance of playing. And I really didn’t want to let Levithian or the viewers down. Although he sounded great on paper, portraying him proved a tad…difficult, I guess. But the atmosphere on set was spectacular. It kept us all motivated, especially Jensen.”

“Yeah, yeah it’s his first movie since his show supernatural ended right? And we all know how much of a hugger Liam is. Jensen had to shake off the occasional jitters for the first couple of days but-but as Liam said, the cast really had each other’s backs, kept everyone motivated with a positive atmosphere and I gotta say that it helped me out a lot having such a comfortable surrounding and it felt really great to work alongside him” he points to Liam, “again”

Liam’s hair falls to the side of his face as he tilts his head toward Zayn, he touches his palm to his heart, asking, “You want to get married?”

“I would love too”

**

"What’s the weirdest song I've ever danced to with this guy?" Zayn indicates with his thumb toward Liam. He gets a contemplated look on his face before straightening with a loud 'Ah'. Liam waits patiently, snickering every few seconds.

"We danced to uh, Sade’s ‘Smooth…Operator’ on our honeymoon in..." he is cut off loud cheers but they are quick to stop for Zayn to continue. "Bet you'd like to know" he gives a coy laugh which is immediately over shone by appreciative wails.

Liam speaks up, "Look at all the boys in the crowd. They must be terrified"  
**  
With a contemplative look, Zayn swallows loudly, saying “Actually, I was asked to, uh, be the first assistant director for Tavron but-don’t get me wrong, it was a great opportunity b-but, I guess getting Michael just right proved to be a lot more time consuming and so, so I had to focus more on…on getting him just right”

“Levithian’s a douche” Liam spat funnily, throwing up his arms and pushing his chest out a way that said ‘Bitch, yeah I said it’

A choked laugh escapes Zayn and he taps his microphone gently to his forehead. “From my thoughts to his mouth”  
**

Liam snaps his fingers, “Seriously? I’d rather watch the Food network with this man right here scribbling down recipes like his life depended on it than watch Twilight sagas again.”

Some persons booed, others cheered in agreement. Zayn threw in his own ‘boo’ for good measure.

“Boo! Insulting the Unwrapped is unforgiveable. Barefoot Contessa will hear of this profanity” Zayn pouts, giving Liam a thumbs down.

“I love Zayn in Adrenaline” the chirpy brunette holding the mic says.

Liam chips in, “I love watching him swan dive off an exploding yacht shirtless” This specific scene seems to be as memorable as Liam makes it sound. Zayn puts a hand over his heart fondly, waving like a ‘Queen’ as he accepts the applause, the glittering frame of his wedding ring even more pronounced as it’s lifted into the light.

Indicating for them to quiet down, Zayn lies modestly, “That was a stunt double by the way”  
**

Liam is babbling about their wedding, having a back and forth discussion with the fans when Zayn recalls something utterly unforgettable and chimes in.

“Speaking of the wedding. I was uh” he clears his throat, handing his empty coffee cup over to Liam before continuing, “I was browsing youtube, you know, ‘youtubing’ us (*laughter) and came across a newly uploaded vid of some our wedding photos.” Liam sends him a confirming nod to show that he too remembers the video.

“And I thought, why not take a look see. I think it was called, um,” he snaps his fingers at Liam, who looks thoughtful for a moment then declares, “Ziam’s wedding: Already taken”

“Yeah, yeah that’s it. Anyways it had all sort of pictures dating back to my days of our lives days and Liam’s twink days” he receives a punch from Liam. He rubs at his arm, smiling at the attentive crowd,

“And the song was really upbeat, one of those rap songs I guess and I was like, what the…? There I was in pictures and mini clips with Danielle, Perrie and other random girls from my past and I’m seeing Liam with women he’s done…” he pauses for dramatic effect, of course everyone takes his sentence as a dirty one and laughs, “done movies and shows with” he flicks his tongue at them after finishing.

“Then finally I see pictures of me and him, whether on walks or on set for something, and evidently some leaked photos of our wedding. But what I’m trying to say is that, I found the song actually kind of interesting, it’s far from the romantic genre however” this time it’s his turn to laugh. The one line of ‘I’m already taken’ was pretty catchy after a while. He gets that the creator of the video wanted to bring across the reality that although they were previously with other people in their past, they were manifestly ‘already taken’ nowadays.

“I mean, we have no idea who” Liam glances down at his palm, pretending to read off of it, “Trey Songs is?”  
****

“Was it hard for you guys to make a comeback without the others? I mean, I know you have each other nowadays and all especially now that you’ve made up with Harry, Niall and Louis, but, but I’m sure they would’ve been tears anyway…I guess, I just want to know what it was like for all of you on the first day of becoming Cadence?”

Zayn is the first to bring the mike to his mouth, but Liam cuts him off by declaring,

“By the end of the day I was soaked in tears, mostly from over thinking and being harsh on myself, and sweat, from this guy right here” he points to Zayn, “He was all like, Oh Liam, I don wanna weave, I don wanna go and he was all whiny and stuff” by the time he gets to imitating Zayn foolishly, Liam’s giggles are rumbling in his chest painfully. Unlike Liam, the audience does not hold back, letting the comforting amusement wash over them. Liam quickly follows their example and throws his head back giddily.

Zayn shakes his head, the devoted smile never fading as he turns to answer the question properly. “Yeah, we cried. We’re men…men cry too”, well…almost properly.

“Yeah. I’m a grown man and I’ll cry if I want t” Liam joins him in their playful chatter. Zayn grins perceptively when he identifies the known quote that he himself had stated the evening after their overwhelming comeback performance. It had made the behind the scenes of ONE DIRECTION and the familiarity of Liam’s word stirs up expressive applause from the viewers.

“But on a serious note, preparing for the comeback with just the two of us was…well, painful but I just felt that it was something we needed to do, if not for us then for Directioner everywhere. I mean if you all are our queens, what kind of kings would we be if we disappointed you”. The addressees find it absolutely marvelous and like a gift from heaven they squeal at the wonders the tone does to their instincts.  
Holding aside the mike Zayn says, “You’ve still got it old man” the pleased grin Zayn gives him filters the slight insult out of the words.

“It’s hard, you know. When you’re in a popular group like One directio, where everyone’s you’re best bud and you’ve spent so many years and hours in their company that their presence has grown on you extensively. And then, then we have the split and you think” he snaps his fingers searching Zayn’s face for help.

“Um, ah, and you think ‘Wow, a whole chunk of my life is going to go missing when I wake up tomorrow. I thank God every day for allowing me the opportunity to do what I love and be with who I love and no matter how many years go by after One direction we'll still be contact with Harry, Louis and Niall. You know? I’ll have Zayn call Niall and Louis, then we'd ring up Harry and other counterparts and say hey, you old timers available for drinks?"

Zayn raises his mic to add, "We can't get rid of Harry" he shakes his head, looking flabbergasted, and his body language clearly saying 'I dunno why?'

“Yeah. Yeah..." Liam breaks off to laugh again, smacking Zayn playfully in the arm as if to say 'Bad, Zayn. Bad'. "We’ll celebrate One direction’s memory every year because true bonds like the ones we developed in with each other and the fans never really end” Liam pulls himself together and finishes, clasping his free hand with Zayn’s and raises them both into the air happily, “And we” he indicates to himself and Zayn, “…and all of you in the audience tonight, our Directioner nation, are living proof to the fact that what was built in the ONE DIRECTION establishment is not ever going to be forgotten”  
****

Done. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it :) It's pretty long but I like to read long fics and once I have an idea and is able to stretch it during my free time it tends to just takeover. Leave me a comment telling me what you think of it. Constructive critism is welcomed also, since it is pretty long and I don't put it past myself to leave a lot of loopholes. :D


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